Hang on in there babies, deliverance is at hand!
Spare a thought for the Coalition’s overdue triplets, still crawling towards the brightness of the ministerial day while their recently spawned siblings swan around the sunlit lowlands of minor office and await their first pay packet.
The Limbo Three are Marian Harkin, Colm Brophy and Timmy Dooley. Until legislation is passed by the Oireachtas they remain Coalition commoners – TDs without a title, politicians without portfolio.
Until the Dáil and Seanad vote to amend the Ministers and Secretaries and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices Bill to allow the number of Ministers of State rise from 20 to 23, the triplets are stuck.
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But the good news is that, with the help of a section 1(1) and a section 3A, they should be out by Wednesday evening.
For this to happen, the 27th Seanad has to convene for the first time. Following the announcement of the Taoiseach’s 11 nominees on Friday, all 60 members are now in place.
It’s all systems go.
Leinster House wasn’t exactly dizzy with anticipation on Tuesday. Still, some of us kept refreshing the Oireachtas website to find to find out what time the Upper House would meet on Wednesday because we have no life.
But all that came up was: “No business is currently scheduled.”
This was probably an attempt to control crowd numbers. The public gallery in the Seanad is small. But the Upper House will definitely sit. By presidential order, no less.
On Monday, an email from the Áras dropped. It contained an extremely short message from Michael D Higgins, which was remarkable in itself.
And it had a very arresting heading. “President Higgins summons Seanad Éireann.”
Michael D stands at sunset on a little mossy hummock, face tilted to the golden sky, blowing an ancient hunting horn as drowsy senators prick up their ears and slowly begin the long trek to Kildare Street.
“Following advice tendered to the President by the Taoiseach under section 8 of Article 18 of the Constitution, the President has signed the Proclamation, fixing Wednesday 12 February, 2025 for the first meeting of Seanad Éireann after the recently held General Election.”
It’s the news the overdue triplets were longing to hear. They won’t be plain old Colm, Marian and Timmy for much longer.
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The Dáil, of course, has been going at full throttle since last week, and on Tuesday the chamber rattled along in the familiar routine of TDs reading scripts into the record to empty benches. At least it gave people the chance to wake up and catch their breath after Fianna Fáil deputy leader Jack Chambers took Leaders’ Questions in the absence of his boss, Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
Housing dominated the session with Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin, Cian O’Callaghan of the Social Democrats and Labour’s Ivana Bacik attacking the Government about its commitment to protecting renters while planning to encourage more private investment in the property market.
Watching with interest from his eyrie in the highest corner of the chamber was Eoin Hayes, who was suspended indefinitely from the Social Democrats parliamentary party in December for misleading it over when he sold shares he held in a tech firm with links to the Israel Defence Forces.
Earlier, during his weekly media briefing outside on the plinth, acting leader O’Callaghan said that following a review, the party’s national executive endorsed the decision to indefinitely suspend the Dublin Bay South TD. He has lost the parliamentary party whip but he is still a member.
Reporters wondered if this means there is a road back for him now? Something he could do to show contrition?
“That certainly could be considered at a later date,” O’Callaghan said.
But not now.
And would Eoin have to ask to be readmitted or would that be the parliamentary party’s call?
It could be either, reckoned Cian.
So when did they last talk?
“I, eh, said hello to him last week.”
But the indefinite suspension remains.
A case of indefinitely maybe, it would seem.
At least the Coalition triplets know where they stand. The Dáil and Seanad will legitimise them on Wednesday.
Labour’s Ged Nash is not happy with this “addition of three new Ministers of State to the bloated ranks of baby ministers”.
It reminds him of Bertie Ahern’s Celtic Tiger era “with tax breaks for developers and a boom in baby ministers and ministers of state”.
Bringing in legislation providing for more junior ministers is “entirely unjustifiable”, Nash said. “This is a stroke and about keeping restive backbenchers on board.”
And the hallmark of a Government stroke is the fact that very little time has been set aside to “interrogate and debate” this very important issue.
Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit can’t be doing with any more junior ministers either.
“The Government is planning to further expand the gravy train of ministerial jobs and allowances and they are doing it with a guillotine in order to suppress proper debate and discussion of the expanded gravy train they are planning. That is completely unacceptable,” he thundered.
Two of the anxious overdue babies were in the chamber. Fine Gael’s Brophy and Fianna Fáil’s Dooley said nothing. They’ll be on board soon enough and swimming in it.
Just as well they’re not waiting on a disappearing bus. When it comes to ministerial gravy, the Government doesn’t do ghost trains.
Michael D has summoned the Senators.
Deliverance is at hand.
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