Sinn Féin has accused the Government and other Opposition parties of not having “the nerve” to block the appointment of its TD Mairéad Farrell as chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
Sinn Féin chief whip Padraig MacLochlainn said the Government parties and some opposition whips had “bottled” opposing the proposal at a Dáil committee that sat privately on Thursday.
The appointment, which is being made to replace the former Sinn Féin chair Brian Stanley who resigned from the party last Saturday, was considered by the Dáil’s business committee.
The committee unanimously approved a proposal to send a motion making Ms Farrell the chair to the Dáil, meaning it will be considered by the house next week.
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Although, in reality, the committee could not have blocked the progression of the appointment to the Dáil even if parties had dissented from the proposal, Sinn Féin said the unanimous nature of the decision showed that Government and other parties “don’t have the nerve” to block the appointment.
“They bottled it today, whenever the question was put, I don’t believe they have the nerve to block Maireád Farrell next week,” Mr MacLochlainn said after the meeting.
The appointment of chairs to Oireachtas committees is usually done without debate on the floor of the Dáil and therefore not put to a vote – and the motion to be put before the Dáil is in line with this. However, this may be objected to next week when it comes to the Dáil and the Government may move to force a vote on the matter.
Sinn Féin has promised to propose Ms Farrell again if this happens. The Sinn Féin motion also seeks to remove Mr Stanley from the committee and replace him with its Cavan-Monaghan TD Matt Carthy. Ms Farrell is already a sitting member of the PAC.
Mr Stanley stood down from Sinn Féin after an internal inquiry into allegations made against him which he dismissed as a “kangaroo court”. He has made a counter-allegation to the initial claims, which did not include any allegation of criminal behaviour.
It is understood that some parties raised concerns at the meeting about Sinn Féin’s handling of a series of controversies at the private meeting today but did not object to the motion going to the Dáil.
“I’m determined to go to the Dáil next week and say that when this Q was put at committee, all these parties did not dissent,” Mr MacLochlainn said.
PAC met on Thursday morning with Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy chairing in the absence of Mr Stanley.
Ms Murphy, the deputy chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said later in the day that the Social Democrats would not oppose a Sinn Féin proposal for Mairéad Farrell to take over the chair of the committee.
Ms Murphy told RTÉ radio’s News at One that she expected that any decision on the chair of the PAC would not take place until Tuesday. This was not unusual as such issues were usually “timetabled” and then it would be up to the parties or individuals to decide whether or not to call a vote on the issue.
“We don’t plan to oppose that proposal. The current situation is that Deputy Stanley is still the chair. He’s resigned from Sinn Féin. The practice of the Dáil has been that the leading party, the largest party of the Opposition holds that position. And they nominate the person that they wish to be in the chair of the Public Accounts Committee.”
Ms Murphy said there were still “issues outstanding” in relation to the party’s handling of recent controversies. “But that is for Sinn Féin,” she said. “The Public Accounts Committee, we feel, is a separate issue and we won’t be opposing if a vote is called for the nomination of Mairéad Farrell.”
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns reiterated calls for more clarity from the party as to why “the situation with Brian Stanley was referred to gardaí”.
She said her party would not block Ms Farrell’s appointment as PAC chair next week but that it would be “helpful” if Sinn Féin would clarify both the statement and referral to gardaí “between now and then”.
“We don’t resist the nomination [for Ms Farrell] going forward because there is no precedent for doing that,” she added. “We wouldn’t do that, but I would reiterate the concerns that I raised and ask them to clarify them.”
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