After chaotic scenes in the Dáil last week, the Opposition has tabled a motion of no confidence in the Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy for Tuesday. Is this unusual?
It certainly is. It is the first time such a motion has been put down and certainly the first time it will be debated.
Opposition parties have threatened to submit no confidence motions in the ceann comhairle before. This happened in 2004 when Fianna Fáil TD Rory O’Hanlon was ceann comhairle and again in 2014 when Seán Barrett of Fine Gael was in the chair.
The closest the Dáil got to an actual motion being debated was in 2009 when Labour said it had no confidence in John O’Donoghue, who was caught up in a controversy over lavish spending on official trips abroad, on hotels and limousines. Mr O’Donoghue’s resignation made such a motion moot.
But it is not a motion of no confidence any more?
Since about midday Monday it is a motion of confidence. Whenever the Opposition tables a motion of no confidence, the Government invariably amends it and changes it into a motion of confidence. The reason for that is it gives the Government parties the right to open the debate and then speak at the end.
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The Cabinet is expected to approve the text of the confidence motion on Tuesday morning.
Why has the Opposition lost confidence in Ms Murphy?
The Opposition parties claim her handling of events in the Dáil last Tuesday was not impartial or fair.
Last week, the Government decided to push through new standing orders (Dáil rules) that proposed giving new speaking slots to a small group of TDs led by Michael Lowry. The Opposition began to protest loudly and the Chamber quickly descended into chaos.
Amid the deafening din, the Ceann Comhairle decided to proceed with business although it was almost impossible to hear what was being said. In that confusion, the Opposition claims, Ms Murphy did not follow proper procedures and somehow teamed up with the Government. Ms Murphy strenuously denies these allegations.
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Is there evidence to support the Opposition’s claims?
Ms Murphy is supported by the clerk of the Dáil, who reported last Wednesday that she followed all procedures correctly.
However, Sinn Féin and other parties did a line-by-line analysis of the recording and claim the clerk’s report is “flawed”. Specifically, the Opposition parties say, Ms Murphy should have put the standing order to a vote.
What can we expect from the vote?
The debate is due to begin shortly before 4pm and will last for two hours. It will be unusual in that the chair of the house – who is nominally above party politics – will be defended by one side and criticised by the other.
She will comfortably survive in the vote, as the Government maintains a majority in the Dáil. More up in the air is how her relationship with the Opposition will pan out into the future.
