Micheál Martin
Question:10. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if he has specific deals or arrangements with Independent Deputies. [21487/18]
View answerWednesday, 30 May 2018
Questions (10, 11, 12, 13)
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:11. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he has specific deals or arrangements for support with Independent Deputies. [23291/18]
View answerMicheál Martin
Question:12. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if the deals being done with Independent Deputies or other Deputies are being updated; and if there have been additions or new commitments regarding same. [23441/18]
View answer
Brendan Howlin
Question:13. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Taoiseach if he has specific deals or arrangements with Independent Deputies. [23584/18]
View answerOral answers (15 contributions)
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 10 to 13, inclusive, together.
There are no understandings of the nature suggested by the questions with any particular Independent Deputies. A Programme for a Partnership Government sets out the agreement between the party groups and the Deputies who are participating in or supporting the Government.
Government deals with Independent Deputies in return for support have been a feature of political life in Ireland for 36 years. The assignment of a small number of officials to facilitate such arrangements is a long-established practice. The refusal of this Government, however, not only to provide details of what exactly it has promised in return for support but also to clarify who is supporting it is unprecedented.
Deputy Lowry has toured County Tipperary telling people he has an arrangement with the Government. There is evidence that he has privileged access to Ministers. The Dáil record shows that Deputy Lowry is one of the Government's most reliable supporters in votes. In recent weeks, he has sided with the Government in votes on matters like fisheries, affordable housing, judicial appointments and data protection. It appears that Deputy Lowry has a much higher rate of attendance for votes than he previously had, although this needs to be confirmed. Is there a relationship between the Government and Deputy Lowry? It is clear from the Deputy's constituency that he is of the view that he has a relationship with the Government. The Taoiseach has filibustered when answering questions on this matter to avoid giving a direct response to a simple question. Will the Taoiseach explain the arrangement he has made with Deputy Lowry? All the evidence confirms that there is such an arrangement.
Deputy Canney has left his group after falling out with the other members of it on the issue of the coin toss that was used to determine who would serve as Minister of State. He has said he is still supporting the Government. Will the Taoiseach confirm whether any special deals or arrangements have been agreed with Deputy Canney?
Earlier this month there was a very well publicised disagreement within the Independent Alliance which resulted in Teachta Seán Canney's resignation from the alliance and as Government deputy Whip. It seemed to have been the culmination of a few weeks of disagreement over the position of Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. Following a meeting with the Taoiseach, Teachta Seán Canney said he would continue to support the Government on budgetary and confidence issues. I would like to know if the Taoiseach has in place any form of deal with Teachta Seán Canney. I am curious to know whether assurances were provided for him in return for his continued support for the Government.
On another matter, I wonder if the Taoiseach will inform the Dáil whether he and the leader of Fianna Fáil have discussed the impending review of the confidence and supply deal. The two Deputies have taken contrary views on when that should happen, but given that the budget is only a matter of months away, it would be useful for the Taoiseach to inform us of his current thinking on the matter. While it might be a private conversation and arrangement between the two Deputies, it is also a matter of public concern. There ought to be a clear articulation of their positions and the interaction they have had.
As I have informed the House before, there are no written or formal agreements with Independents. There is a commitment in the confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fáil to publish any written agreement. As there are no written agreements, there is, therefore, none to be published. I noted Deputy Micheál Martin's remark about precedents which I do not think are quite correct. I recall that the Deputy was a Minister in a Government that had written agreements with Independent Deputies but which did not publish them on the basis that they were not agreements with the Government but with Fianna Fáil and, therefore, did not need to be published or released under freedom of information legislation. I assure the Deputy that there is no private or secret written agreement with me in my capacity as leader of Fine Gael that I am somehow concealing in the way Fianna Fáil did in the past. There is no written agreement with the Government or Fine Gael. If there were a written agreement, I would, of course, publish it.
I did not mention the phrase "written agreement". I asked if a deal had been done.
The Deputy referred to something as being unprecedented. The precedent was a very strange one - a private written agreement between a Fianna Fáil-led Government and Independent Deputies which was not published or released under FOI legislation on the basis that it was an agreement with Fianna Fáil, not the Government. I assure the Ceann Comhairle that I would not engage in that sort of skullduggery. There is no such agreement of either nature. While there is no agreement or special deal with Deputy Michael Lowry or Deputy Seán Canney, they do support the programme for Government which they believe benefits the country and their constituencies. They generally vote with the Government, although they do not always vote in all divisions. They do, of course, have access to the Government in the same way all Independent Deputies who support it do. That means that they are able to raise queries and issues, often related to their constituencies, on which we try to assist.
Therefore, there is a deal.
That does not constitute a deal.
Of course, it does.
Often for one reason or another, it is not possible to assist, but if it is, we certainly try to do so. In many ways, that courtesy is often extended to Independent Members who do not support the Government. If we can provide them with assistance, we do. Even members of Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin come to the Government to raise particular issues. On the confidence and supply-----
I said it was unprecedented in respect of who was giving the Government support. I asked for clarity on who was supporting the Government.
I understand Deputy Michael Lowry also supported a Fianna Fáil-led Government in the past.
I only found out about Deputy Michael Harty last week in terms of his role as a conduit for the Rural Alliance.
May we hear the Taoiseach's response, please?
The confidence and supply agreement states it will be up for review at the end of 2018. We are in the middle of 2018, not quite at the end of it, but that date is approaching and not very far away. There has not been any discussion on renewing it, although I have expressed my opinion that, as is the case with any agreement, it should not just drop dead one day. If it to be extended, it should be extended in advance, in the same way as we would renew in advance a contract or pay agreement, for example. Governments cannot operate if they are on borrowed time. We are only in the middle of 2018 and my focus is not yet on elections or renewing the agreement. It is very much on the business of the Government, keeping the economy on track, creating jobs, preparing for Brexit and the negotiations related to it, as well as trying to make progress in health, housing and so many other areas.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.