[ad_1]
THE DÁIL IS today ready to debate and vote on a motion of censure against Tánaiste Leo Varadkar that is being presented by Sinn Féin.
The Dáil will meet first at Leinster House in reduced numbers, where the government will present a motion of confidence in Varadkar, usurping the motion of no confidence.
The government’s motion will likely pass and the Dáil will then be postponed for 90 minutes for TDs to move through the city to the Dublin Convention Center (CCD).
Questions from the leaders will take place in the CCD and there will be 110 minutes of debate on the motion on the Tánaiste before a vote takes place, probably after 7.30pm.
Voting involving the 160 TDs must take place at the CCD due to social distancing requirements and voting on Varadkar will require all TDs to be present.
The government and the opposition TDs blame each other for the requirement to cross the Liffey, and Fine Gael said Sinn Féin should have scored the no-confidence vote before last Friday.
Sinn Féin says the problem stems from the government’s insistence on presenting its own vote of confidence in Varadkar, rather than proceeding with the motion of no confidence.
The Dáil usually sits in the CCD on Wednesdays to vote in blocks while all members are present. Sinn Féin’s motion was expected to be tabled today and voted on tomorrow.
Talking to TheJournal.ie, Brendan Griffin TD of Fine Gael said that confidence votes cannot be postponed. He also said that once the Dáil concluded last Thursday and his business was set for the following week, he had to meet again today at Leinster House.
“Under standing orders, you cannot have a deferred vote, or a reduced vote, on a motion of confidence or censure. That is clear in the house rules, ”he said.
Once the motion of no confidence was called, we found ourselves in a situation where it cannot be carried out at Leinster House on Tuesday night. So we have to move the business to the Convention Center. It’s as simple as that.
However, Sinn Féin has criticized the government’s decision to cast a vote of confidence in Varadkar, saying the government could have done so tomorrow.
The party’s whip boss, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD, said this decision was about eliminating the opposition’s speaking time.
“Sinn Féin and the other opposition parties and groups presented alternative programming options to the government, but they rejected them with excuses that do not add up,” he said.
“It is clear that the government is trying to block the voices of the opposition and is trying to distract itself from the real problem by playing games with the Dáil calendar.”
Under the bus
Sinn Féin filed the motion of no confidence in Varadkar on Friday after the revelation that he had sent a copy of an agreement between the government and the Irish Medical Organization to a rival group of GPs while he was taoiseach last year.
No news is bad news
Support the magazine
your contributions help us continue to deliver the stories that are important to you
Support us now
Varadkar faced questions in the Dáil last Tuesday about the revelations, which were first published by Village Magazine.
In the Dáil, the Tánaiste apologized for “errors of judgment” and said that he was not a “close friend” of the former president of the NAGP, Maitiú Ó Tuathail, to whom he sent the agreement.
Sinn Féin accused Varadkar of throwing Ó Tuathail “under the bus” and filed a motion of censure claiming that he had not “faced any sanction” for the controversy.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week program over the weekend, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the penalty Varadkar faced was having to answer questions in the Dáil last week.
“The sanction is the responsibility of Dáil Éireann and the sanction is that we are all aware of what standards we must adhere to,” said Donohoe.
Much of the focus will be on supporting TDs from Fine Gael’s coalition partners in Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.
Fianna Fáil’s TDs, including Barry Cowen, Wille O’Dea and Niall Collins, are among those who have said they will back Varadkar.
Labor, Social Democrats and Solidarity-People Before Profit have said they will support Sinn Fein’s proposal.
[ad_2]