Good morning.
Proposals from Shane Ross on reforms to the penalties for speeding are on the agenda for the weekly Cabinet meeting today and could bring a notable success for the Dublin Rathdown TD.
A year after similar but stricter proposals were rejected following a revolt by Fine Gael Ministers, as well as concerns expressed by Attorney General Seamus Woulfe, the Minister for Transport is bringing amended plans back to his ministerial colleagues.
While some in Fine Gael are clearly unhappy, Ross yesterday said there is no plot by the senior Government party to thwart him once more.
Harry McGee has the details here.
The changes will see a motorist found travelling 30kmph above the speed limit facing prosecution under a new stand-alone offence, with the prospect of a €2,000 fine and seven penalty points.
Those caught driving up to 10km/h over the limit will receive two penalty points and a €60 fine; those caught driving 10km/h to 20km/h over the limit will get three penalty points and an €80 fine, and those 20km/h to 30km/h over will be hit with four penalty points and a €100 fine.
In separate legislation, Ross also intends to introduce a €80 fine for anyone who does not have their licence to hand when pulled over by a member of An Garda Síochána.
Recent days have seen warnings come from the rural wing of Fine Gael that it could yet kick back against Ross’s updated scheme, but Leo Varadkar, Paschal Donohoe, Charlie Flanagan and other heavy hitters support Ross.
A number of Ministers who were understood to have opposed the measures had by last night signalled their willingness to go along with what is being proposed.
Ross may be the Government’s bogeyman in rural Ireland, and he and the Independent Alliance are often open to ridicule because of ill-thought positions and policies.
But it would be mean-spirited and unnecessarily obstructionist to block Ross after he listened to last year’s criticism and spent months refining his plans before bringing them back to Cabinet once more.
Speed canvassing in Wexford
The minds of most in Leinster House this week will not be on the proceedings before the Dáil or Cabinet, however. We are now in the final few days of campaigning in the four byelections due on Friday: Dublin Fingal, Wexford, Dublin Mid West and Cork North Central.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar canvassed yesterday with Verona Murphy, the Fine Gael candidate in Wexford who has faced heavy criticism for, among other things, saying asylum seekers need to be “deprogrammed”.
Our report on the canvass - which had all the indications of being something Fine Gael viewed as something to be done and filed away - is here.
All candidates and parties will be hoping voter engagement increases as polling day approaches, but many are predicting a turnout well below 40 per cent. As it stands, Fianna Fáil has hopes of winning Cork North Central and Wexford, with Lorraine Clifford-Lee’s candidacy seen as damaged in Dublin Fingal.
Fine Gael is pinning its hopes on Emer Higgins in Dublin Mid West. Colm Burke, the party’s standard bearer in Cork North Central, is said by those in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to be performing well. If Higgins and Burke perform strongly but fail to take a Dáil seat in the byelections, both will be well set for next year’s general election.
Labour is seriously eyeing up a win for Duncan Smith in Dublin Fingal, where it is expected to come down to a battle between Smith and Joe O’Brien of the Greens. Former Green TD Paul Gogarty could make it back to the Dáil in Dublin Mid West and is joint favourite with Higgins.
Yet, there are so many variables in byelections that nobody really knows what will happen. Most politicians and pundits are relying on a mixture of local knowledge, national trends, hunches, feedback from party sources and everything shy of licking the tip of their finger and sticking it in the air.
It will nevertheless be a fascinating week that will shape perceptions for the general election.
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Playbook
The weekly Cabinet meeting takes place this morning.
Dáil
Leaders’ Questions is at 2pm, followed by the Order of Business.
Minister for Health Simon Harris is on oral PQs.
The Health Insurance Amendment Bill is at second stage, as is the Migration of Participating Securities.
The Rural Independent Group has a PMB, Thirty-Ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019, which seeks to provide a constitutional status for the right to health.
Seanad
The Finance Bill is at second stage in the upper house, while the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill resumes report and final stages.
Committees
The Education Committee has a session on the Retention of Records Bill 2019 with among others, Mary Harney, Caitriona Crowe and Maeve O’Rourke.
The Committee on issues affecting the Traveller Community resumes its hearing on Traveller accommodation.
Paschal Donohoe is before the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach for the committee stage of the Credit Union Restructuring Board (Dissolution) Bill 2019.
Communications, Climate Action and the Environment discusses the use of “data collected by digital assistants” with the Data Protection Commissioner and others. It will also consider the department’s supplementary estimates with Richard Bruton.
Business, Enterprise and Innovation resumes pre-legislative scrutiny of the Employment Permits (Consolidation and Amendment) Bill with Ibec and Ictu.
