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The opposition parties and the Independent Groups of TD have withdrawn from the Committee that deals with the Dáil business.
This makes running the House a challenge for the government unless a resolution is reached before next week.
The move is in response to the Minister of Justice not making a statement and answering questions in the Dáil about the appointment of former Attorney General Seamus Woulfe to the Supreme Court last July.
Minister Helen McEntee said she is prepared to answer questions about the appointment through the long-standing process of written consultations submitted by opposition DTs several days in advance, known as Parliamentary Ministerial Questions (PQ).
She told a news conference in Dublin that this process is standard practice, happens every week and has been in place for many years.
However, the Opposition said this was unacceptable.
The government side downplays the impact of the opposition withdrawing from the Dáil Business Committee by saying that what is agreed there is always disputed in the Dáil anyway. Some describe the committee as yet another forum for disagreement. @rtenews
– Mícheál Lehane (@MichealLehane) November 24, 2020
And in a letter to the Ceann Comhairle tonight, they state that the matter is an extremely serious issue for democracy and sets a very dangerous precedent.
The parties and groups called on the government to end what they described as “ongoing obstruction” and to provide a question-and-answer statement from Minister McEntee.
Ms. McEntee said she had not read the unpublished letters between the Chief Justice and Justice Woulfe, adding that the publication of these letters “… is not a matter for me to decide.”
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Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the Justice Minister has nothing to hide in relation to the appointment process.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Mr. Ryan said that “there is nothing to hide from this, there is nothing to hide in my mind.”
He said he hopes the justice minister will answer all questions when she appears before Dáil next week.
Labor Party leader Alan Kelly said senior Justice Department officials must appear before the Oireachtas Justice Committee if Minister McEntee does not give in to calls to answer questions in the Dáil.
Kelly said the government has a “certain knot” for refusing to accept calls from the opposition for McEntee to answer “direct” questions about the appointment of Justice Woulfe to the Supreme Court.
He said “running scared is not an option,” adding that the issue will have to be addressed, “one way or another.”
Meanwhile, the Government has been forced to take three votes on the agenda, after opposition TDs vehemently challenged the Taoiseach to force Ms McEntee to answer Dáil’s questions about the appointment of the Judge Woulfe.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and many other Opposition TDs said they would continue the matter for as long as necessary.
Alan Kelly told the Dáil: “We will do this every week until the minister comes in.”
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