The decision of Fine Gael’s Joe McHugh to vote against the Government’s €2.7 billion mica redress scheme has left the Coalition in a precarious minority position in the Dáil. The Donegal TD’s decision to throw in his lot with the Opposition on the €2.7 billion mica redress scheme has left the Coalition with 79 seats out of 159 in the Dáil, excluding the Ceann Comhairle.
In theory this means it could face defeat at any time although that looks unlikely in the short term. Even though he has now lost the party whip it appears unlikely that McHugh will vote against the Government on other issues if he wishes to be reinstated in the parliamentary party. His decision on the mica redress scheme was based on local considerations, given that so many of his constituents are affected by the faulty building material.
There was also an element of frustration that his party’s leadership did not take him seriously enough when he first raised the problem with them some years ago and sought a commitment to remedial action. McHugh, a former minister for education, announced in May that he will not be standing at the next election but has indicated that he wishes to remain on good terms with his party.
The Coalition has also lost the support of Green Party TDs Patrick Costello and Neasa Hourigan, who were suspended from their parliamentary party for six months after voting against the Government on the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital to the St Vincent’s site. It is noticeable that the pair have not voted against the Government on other issues and abstained on Wednesday’s Dáil division on the mica legislation. The expectation is that the whip will be restored to them by the end of the year. The other Government TD currently outside the fold is Fianna Fáil’s Marc MacSharry, who resigned his party whip last year.
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While the Coalition has grounds for optimism that it will survive Dáil votes for the foreseeable future its minority position is an ominous development for it, given that it has not yet reached the halfway mark in its planned five-year term.