Senator Dan Boyle insisted today the general election will not be delayed to enable some key Green Party legislation to be passed.
It emerged last night that the likely date of the general election may be pushed back to March or even later, following a row at Cabinet between Fianna Fáil and Green Party Ministers.
The election had been widely expected to take place towards the end of February or the beginning of March.
The row between the Coalition parties erupted on the morning of the Budget when the two Green Ministers insisted their priority legislation on climate change, corporate donations and waste levies be enacted before the general election.
However, Mr Boyle said today his party would not be rowing back. “The Green Party leader has announced that on the completion of the budgetary process, which will be the passing of the Finance Bill in both houses, it is not our intention to remain in Government,” he told the Seanad today.
Meanwhile, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan today declined to speculate on a date for the election and insisted his party was committed to getting the budgetary process completed. “We will do that in cooperation with our Government colleagues and after that there should be an election. The exact date for that is a matter for the Taoiseach but we have set out our timelines and objectives.”
However, he said his party would like to see a number other pieces of legislation passed before an election is called. “I would like to see within that process other legislation which I think is to the benefit of the country in terms of changing corporate donations, a new corporate donations bill, the introduction of a climate bill and indeed other measures.”
According to sources in both parties, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey was particularly vocal at Tuesday’s meeting in telling the Greens that they could forget about an early new year election if they wanted their legislation passed by the Dáil. “There was a row, they wanted their own Green legislation pushed through,” said one Fianna Fáil source. “Basically they were told they should have thought of that before they called time on the Government.”
A spokesman for the Greens in Government indicated last night the party could be persuaded to pull back from its original demand, made on Monday, November 22nd, that it wanted an election in the second half of January. “It’s certainly worth looking at if it means getting key legislation through, but this can’t go on for ever and progress can be made pretty quickly,” the spokesman said.
Green Party sources said last night they did not expect Fianna Fáil would try and block its legislation but would try to prevent the election taking place until after St Patrick’s Day. The Greens wish-list when the Dáil resumes on January 11th includes the Climate Change Bill, the Electoral Amendment Bill banning corporate donations and legislation on animal welfare and waste levies.
The Dublin Mayoral Bill, which has been sent to committee stage, also forms part of the list. Details of the row on the morning of the Budget emerged as a cross-section of party TDs contacted by The Irish Times yesterday said any immediate threat to Taoiseach Brian Cowen's position as leader of Fianna Fáil had receded after a series of robust performances this week.
A clear majority of the 25 backbench TDs contacted said they now believed Mr Cowen would lead Fianna Fáil into the next election.
This afternoon, Fianna Fáil issued a statement saying the parliamentary party had "fully endorsed" the Mr Cowen's leadership of the party into the election at a meeting today.
Minister for Social Protection Eamon Ó Cuív said this morning there was "no vacancy" for the leadership of Fianna Fáil.
Asked whether he would consider putting his name forward were such a position to arise, Mr Ó Cuív told RTÉ's Morning Ireland: ""I always believe the situation is that you look at those issues when a vacancy becomes available and there is no question of that in the near future. Brian Cowen has made it absolutely clear that he is leading us into the next election and as a member of his Cabinet, he will have my loyalty as long as I am a member of that Cabinet."
The Minister said it speculating about what might happen if there were a vacancy "only creates instability".
"We have a Taoiseach, there’s a job to be done, we serve in his Cabinet and it’s very important for us. to get on with the job," he said.