Sinn Féin vice-president Mary Lou McDonald is in the headlines again. It is a position she deliberately sought and is happy to maintain. It distracts public attention from ongoing scandals involving the sexual abuse of young men and women by IRA volunteers and the subsequent denial of knowledge of those events by Sinn Féin. This time, Ms McDonald faces a motion of Dáil censure because of her deliberate abuse of Dáil privilege by naming six former ministers as alleged tax evaders. She has refused to withdraw the defamatory allegations or apologise to those concerned.
Dáil privilege is a rare thing, reflecting the singular position the Oireachtas holds in Irish life. Under the Constitution, TDs are provided with immunity from defamation or libel actions arising from their Dáil statements. Comments that, in other circumstances, would automatically lead to the law courts are given special protection in the public interest. As a consequence, Oireachtas members are expected to use the privilege rarely and in exceptional circumstances.
The Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges recently found that Ms McDonald deliberately abused this special protection and – following her defiant response – is faced with the question of possible punishment. Normally, such a situation does not arise because members adhere to a common set of values and accept the judgment of their peers. Once again, however, Ms McDonald is determined to set her own standards.
The circumstances surrounding this controversy offered Fianna Fáil a basis for insisting that Sinn Féin was abusing privilege for personal and political purposes. Last November, Ms McDonald disrupted Dáil business and staged a sit-in after she refused to obey Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett. Her action was viewed as a political stunt, designed to distract attention from the Maíria Cahill affair. In December, she named six former or deceased ministers as alleged tax evaders, even though their affairs had been examined – without effect – by five agencies. In doing so, she used the initial of only one minister, who happened to have the same surname as the Ceann Comhairle. As a distraction from Sinn Féin scandals, it was a brilliant stroke – and, arguably, a malicious one.
The Dáil code of conduct is based on a common set of values, established over decades. Sinn Féin’s refusal to accept those values has caused uncertainty within the Government parties on how to proceed. Fianna Fáil has proposed that because good faith on the part of Sinn Féin no longer applies, an offending member should have a month’s pay deducted. Such a financial sanction would pose no problems for Sinn Féin. This controversy is all about publicity and diversionary tactics. Denying an offender political oxygen by imposing a lengthy Dáil suspension may be the only effective way to deter such behaviour.