Oireachtas committee chair appointments are under way as part of the final steps to enable the resumption of full Dáil business after the Easter break.
Appointing TDs to the positions, which come with a €10,888 salary top-up, has been held up by a long-running row between the Opposition and the Government over the allocation of speaking time in the Dáil. The dispute eventually subsided amid acrimony last month.
Chair and member positions on the committees, which scrutinise legislation and actions of public bodies, are allocated to parties and Oireachtas groupings relative to their numerical strength.
Among the most high-profile committee exercises of late was the Public Accounts Committee’s scrutiny of RTÉ’s spending, following a controversy over additional payments to broadcaster Ryan Tubridy.
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In the wake of discontent over a €6.7 million spend on a failed IT project, the Arts Council is expected to be among the first State bodies invited to appear before the Arts and Media Committee, to which the Labour Party has assigned veteran TD Alan Kelly as chair.
Fianna Fáil confirmed appointments of its committee chairpersons in a statement on Thursday afternoon, elevating a mixture of experienced TDs and those more recently elected.
It is expected that Sinn Féin may not reveal its line-up until Friday.
Only one first-term TD has been put forward by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin: Louth deputy Erin McGreehan, who is also the only woman named in the party’s list.
This leaves two women among Fianna Fáil’s current batch of TDs who have not been appointed as ministers or committee chairs. They are Dublin South-Central’s Catherine Ardagh and Meath East’s Aisling Dempsey.
Former minister of state Seán Fleming, TD for Laois, will head the Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery, but there is no place for another long-time TD and former minister: Cavan-Monaghan’s Brendan Smith. Although he hails from a Border constituency, chairmanship of the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement has gone to Dún Laoghaire’s Cormac Devlin.
Another Dublin TD appointed is Dublin South-West’s John Lahart, who will chair the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee.
Cork will be represented by Aindrias Moynihan from Cork North-West, who will chair the Agriculture and Food Committee, and Cork East’s James O’Connor, who will head the Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.
Malcolm Byrne, TD for Wicklow-Wexford, will lead the Committee on Artificial Intelligence, while Clare’s Cathal Crowe, a teacher by training, will chair the Committee on Education and Youth.
Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has also named his party’s committee chairs.
They include Dún Laoghaire’s Barry Ward, who will chair the EU Affairs Committee, and Tipperary South’s Michael Murphy, who will lead the Transport Committee. Longford Westmeath TD Micheál Carrigy will chair the Housing Committee.
Cork North-West’s John Paul O’Shea will chair the Committee on Social Protection, while Carlow-Kilkenny’s Catherine Callaghan will lead the Committee on Members’ Interests. Keira Keogh, a Mayo representative, will chair the Committee on Children and Equality, while Naoise Ó Muirí, of Dublin Bay North, will be installed at the Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy.
Offaly’s John Clendennen has been appointed assistant whip, while Dublin Bay South TD James Geoghegan will be frontbench spokesman on Dublin. Dublin West deputy Emer Currie will be spokesperson on childcare.
As well as appointing Mr Kelly, Labour will nominate the chair of the committee related to issues affecting the Traveller community, with Kildare South’s Mark Wall in the running to be appointed.
The Social Democrats are to appoint Gary Gannon of Dublin Central to head the Committee on Drug Use, while their first-time TD for Cork South-Central Pádraig Rice will chair the Committee on Health.
Limerick County TD Richard O’Donoghue, of Independent Ireland, is being tipped to chair the Budgetary Oversight Committee, with Independent TD for Galway West Catherine Connolly likely to lead the Irish Language Committee.
