I move: "That Deputy Connolly be suspended from the service of the Dáil."
Suspension of Member.
The question is: "That Deputy Ger Connolly be suspended from the service of the Dáil." On that question a division has been challenged.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Barrett (Dún Laoghaire) and Taylor; Níl, Deputies B. Ahern and V. Brady.
I am entitled to raise a point on the technicalities of the voting. Nobody on this side of the House has called for a vote.
Yes, there was a call of "votáil".
I assure you that it was not our intention to have a vote on this issue. As far as I can ascertain, nobody on this side of the House called for a vote. I repeat that it is not our policy to vote on a motion of this sort and I regret that we are now forced into a position of apparently voting in contradiction of your authority. I assure you that it is not our fault that this has happened.
The Deputy made the same point on a previous occasion when another Deputy was being suspended some weeks ago. I have a clear recollection on this occasion. I said I thought that the motion was carried and I was about to say that the motion was carried when the call of "votáil" came from that side.
I am sorry if you are under that impression. It was not our intention to call for a vote and I can only suggest with all due deference that you were mistaken and that nobody on this side of the House called for a vote. We will leave it at that.
I want it to be put on record that I have no doubt. So sure was I that I was about to declare the motion carried when the request came for a vote.
There may have been a request for a vote but I assure you it was not from this side of the House.
There is a technical way of avoiding a vote. If the Fianna Fáil party had not appointed tellers a vote could not take place. The Fianna Fáil Party did appoint tellers.
On a point of order, who moved this motion?
That is not a point of order. The vote must go on.
I am asking the Chair to inform the House who named the Deputy.
Deputy Molloy is simply being obstructive.
The Dáil divided: Tá, 72; Níl, 63.
Tá
- Barnes, Monica.
- Barrett, Seán.
- Barry, Myra.
- Barry, Peter.
- Begley, Michael.
- Bell, Michael.
- Bermingham, Joe.
- Birmingham, George Martin.
- Boland, John.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Liam.
- Carey, Donal.
- Cluskey, Frank.
- Collins, Edward.
- Conlon, John I.
- Connaughton, Paul.
- Coogan, Fintan.
- Cosgrave, Liam T.
- Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
- Coveney, Hugh.
- Creed, Donal.
- Crotty, Kieran.
- Crowley, Frank.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deasy, Martin Austin.
- Desmond, Barry.
- Desmond, Eileen.
- Dowling, Dick.
- Doyle, Avril.
- Doyle, Joe.
- Dukes, Alan.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- Enright, Thomas W.
- Farrelly, John V.
- Fennell, Nuala.
- Flaherty, Mary.
- Glenn, Alice.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harte, Patrick D.
- Hegarty, Paddy.
- Hussey, Gemma.
- Kavanagh, Liam.
- Keating, Michael.
- Kelly, John.
- Kenny, Enda.
- McCartin, Joe.
- McGahon, Brendan.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McLoughlin, Frank.
- Manning, Maurice.
- Mitchell, Gay.
- Mitchell, Jim.
- Molony, David.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Naughten, Liam.
- Nealon, Ted.
- Noonan, Michael. (Limerick East).
- O'Brien, Fergus.
- O'Brien, Willie.
- O'Leary, Michael.
- O'Sullivan, Toddy.
- O'Toole, Paddy.
- Owen, Nora.
- Prendergast, Frank.
- Quinn, Ruairí.
- Ryan, John.
- Shatter, Alan.
- Sheehan, Patrick Joseph.
- Taylor, Mervyn.
- Taylor-Quinn, Madeline.
- Treacy, Seán.
- Yates, Ivan.
Níl
- Ahern, Bertie.
- Ahern, Michael.
- Aylward, Liam.
- Barrett, Michael.
- Barrett, Sylvester.
- Brady, Gerard.
- Brady, Vincent.
- Brennan, Mattie.
- Browne, John.
- Burke, Raphael P.
- Byrne, Hugh.
- Byrne, Seán.
- Calleary, Seán.
- Colley, George.
- Conaghan, Hugh.
- Connolly, Ger.
- Coughlan, Cathal Seán.
- Cowen, Bernard.
- Daly, Brendan.
- Fahey, Francis.
- Fahey, Jackie.
- Faulkner, Pádraig.
- Fitzgerald, Gene.
- Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
- Fitzsimons, Jim.
- Flynn, Pádraig.
- Foley, Denis.
- Gallagher, Denis.
- Gallagher, Pat Cope.
- Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
- Harney, Mary.
- Haughey, Charles J.
- Hilliard, Colm.
- Hyland, Liam.
- Kirk, Séamus.
- Kitt, Michael.
- Lemass, Eileen.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Leonard, Jimmy.
- Leyden, Terry.
- Lyons, Denis.
- McCarthy, Seán.
- McEllistrim, Tom.
- MacSharry, Ray.
- Molloy, Robert.
- Morley, P.J.
- Moynihan, Donal.
- Nolan, M.J.
- Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West)
- O'Hanlon, Rory.
- O'Keeffe, Edmond.
- O'Leary, John.
- O'Malley, Desmond J.
- Ormonde, Donal.
- Power, Paddy.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Tunney, Jim.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Walsh, Joe.
- Walsh, Seán.
- Wilson, John P.
- Woods, Michael.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Question declared carried.
Before I leave I want to say that——
I am sorry. I will suspend the sitting for 15 minutes.
Deputy Connolly withdrew from the Chamber.
I have since discovered that there was a call of "votáil" from this side of the House.
On a point of order, I have been a Member of this House for some years now and I regard it as a very important forum for the expression of views and for making clear the concern of the House. I had likewise a Private Notice Question on the subject referred to the Minister for Justice and it was ruled out of order on the grounds apparently that——
I ask Deputy Woods to resume his seat. It is a well established rule of the House over many years, a rule not made by me but by various Cinn Comhairle, that when a question is ruled out of order the reason for so doing is conveyed to the Deputy who wanted to raise it by way of private notice by the Ceann Comhairle's Private Secretary and that is an end of it. I am satisfied my Private Secretary has given the Deputy a full explanation. If the Deputy is not satisfied with that he is quite welcome to come to my office and discuss it with me and get again a full explanation. If he thinks I am seriously wrong in some way there is a well known and established way of correcting me or censuring me and any further attempt by Deputy Woods to pursue the matter now is disorderly. It is not doing the House or this Parliament any good. What I have said is correct and the Deputy will have to obey the Chair.
The last time you used similar words to me about a similar situation in regard to the Fairview case and subsequently the Chair had to agree——
Deputies
Chair, Chair.
——and the Taoiseach had to agree to have a special debate in the House.
That is a matter for the Whips. It is not a matter for the Chair.