Independent TDs take centre stage as Government seeks to shore up support ahead of confidence vote

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan has said she has been left “in limbo” by the party ahead of a planned vote of no confidence in the Dáil next week, as a large number of Independent TDs indicated they would vote against the Coalition.

The Government lost its majority in the Dáil this week after Donegal TD Joe McHugh voted against legislation to give homeowners affected by Mica access to an enhanced grant scheme. This followed the decision of two Green Party TDs – Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello – to vote against the Government on a motion on the national maternity hospital earlier this year, resulting in the loss of the party whip for six months. A Dáil majority is 80 votes, and the numbers on the Government benches dropped to 79 this week.

This prompted Sinn Féin to put the Government numbers to the test with a motion of no confidence.

While a number of Independent TDs have indicated they may vote with the Government, with one saying he was reluctant to hold the Coalition to “ransom” with constituency demands in return for support, Ms Hourigan told The Irish Times she feels she is in “limbo”.

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“I have had absolutely no information around what the expectation is in terms of votes, from either the chief whip, the deputy whip or the Green Party whip. No information whatsoever, no communication, and still since my vote I have not managed to get that information at all. I am in limbo. I am waiting for some communication, that is where I am, and have been even before this vote of confidence was called.”

This is despite the fact that one Independent TD said privately that he has already been contacted by a figure in Government looking to shore up his support.

Limerick TD Richard O’Donoghue said he has “no confidence in the Government, and I have no confidence in leaving Eamon Ryan in charge of transport for this country, and his lack of understanding or education around how the country works and how dependent we are on fossil fuels. I also have massive disappointment in the Minister for Housing not taking on board any of the amendments we had recently in the housing committee.”

Donegal TD Thomas Pringle also said he would be voting against the Government.

Kildare South TD Cathal Berry sounded a more optimistic note, however.

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He said a memo is due to go to Cabinet on the future funding of the Defence Forces. He said if the Government produces a “serious and credible plan”, he will take a favourable view.

Galway East TD Sean Canney said he will be “taking stock over the weekend”.

“I will have to take into account what the purpose of this is and why there is a vote of confidence, and if it were to succeed would we have a general election, and if that happened, how would this affect the budget. I won’t be deciding anything until Tuesday morning. I will keep my counsel until then after seeing what people think in the constituency, and weighing up the consequences.”

Asked whether he had any specific demands for support, he said: “You wouldn’t be looking for a ransom or anything like that, but there are things I would like to see progressed in Galway, the hospital situation, housing, I would have to think about all of that. It will be based on a common-sense approach rather than ransoms.”

Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae said: “This Government have made mistake after mistake after mistake. The Greens have infiltrated Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to an awfully great extent. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have sold their souls and have lost rural Ireland’s support forever.”

The six-strong Rural Independent group, of which Mr Healy-Rae is a member, said they would not support the Government, which they described as “brain dead”.

Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, who is the leader of the group, said “the problem with this Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party Government is that they think their job is to hold the people accountable to the Government rather than the Government accountable to the people.

“Given the abysmal performance of this Government, how could any TD feel good enough, or be brainwashed enough, about this Government to vote confidence in it next week? In fact, feeling good about this Government is like looking on the bright side of a catastrophe, but when you quit looking at things optimistically, the catastrophe is still there.”

Overall, the Government expects to win the vote comfortably, but TDs privately acknowledge that the loss of a majority may present significant problems after the summer recess, particularly in the context of the budget and the cost-of-living crisis.