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A heated meeting of the Dáil Business Committee today failed to reach an agreement on when Sinn Féin’s motion of no confidence would be debated at the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
The Government has now mobilized to hold the debate and vote at the Convention Center tomorrow night.
It will begin at 5:19 p.m. and will last just over two hours with a vote that will follow immediately.
Government TDs have been told that everyone must be present.
The Dáil will first need to meet at Leinster House at 2pm before proceedings move to the Convention Center at 3.30pm.
The Government will present a counter-motion of confidence in the Tánaiste in response to the motion of censure from Sinn Féin.
This will tell that Dáil Éireann has confidence in the Tánaiste.
Opposition parties have said that this proposal will cost taxpayers more because sessions at the Convention Center cost € 25,000 per day.
The Dáil was not supposed to sit in the place until Wednesday.
Varadkar faces the motion after he provided a confidential contract negotiated with IMO last year to Dr. Maitiú O Tuathail, who was then the head of the rival group of doctors NAGP.
Voting on legislation and motions must be done at the Convention Center to ensure Covid-19 guidelines are followed.
The government alleges that Sinn Fein did not reveal its intention to present the motion when the Dáil calendar for this week was agreed last Thursday.
He also believes that the matter should be dealt with quickly, as this Wednesday the Finance Bill is being debated and voted on.
However, this is rejected by the opposition who say the matter could have been debated Tuesday at Leinster House and then voted on the next day at the Convention Center.
They also insist that the presentation by the Government of a motion of confidence will significantly reduce the time of intervention of the opposition tomorrow.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the motion was an attempt “to keep this issue in the media to try to create division within the government, particularly within Fianna Fáil.”
He said that he has spoken to the Tánaiste “in some detail” on this matter and believes that Varadkar’s version of events is “absolutely”.
“I think it is unfortunate that in a week where we were able to see great progress on Brexit, when we expect a really positive relationship with a new US president, Sinn Féin is looking to inflict personalized political damage on Leo Varadkar because he an opponent of theirs. “
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Mr. Varadkar has said that several meetings that Village Magazine allegedly took place between Tánaiste and Dr. Ó Tuathail did not happen.
The magazine claimed that the Tánaiste met with Dr. Ó Tuathail up to ten times during a period from 2018 to 2019.
Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Simon Harris also said that the meetings they allegedly had with Dr. Ó Tuathail and Mr. Varadkar, detailed by Village, did not happen.
Mr. Varadkar said that he gave the document to Dr. Ó Tuathail not because he was a friend, but because he wanted more doctors to support him.
He said last week that he would normally meet socially with Dr. Ó Tuathail two or three times a year and that he would also have more contact with him on matters related to the GP.
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