Mattie McGrath: Blasts Impeachment Motion as 'Grandstanding'
Mattie McGrath argued that there were no grounds for impeachment and opposed a motion he described as grandstanding and game-playing. He said he respected the legal advice received and criticised attempts to change standing orders to suit a particular agenda.
Position on the impeachment motion
McGrath said a conclusion had already been reached that there were no grounds for impeachment and that continuing to table the motion was simply grandstanding and show-playing. He urged that the motion be removed so it would not recur weekly.
Legal advice and parliamentary procedure
He acknowledged the legal advice provided and thanked the organiser of that advice, arguing that the advice supported opposing the motion. He said those tabling a motion of constitutional import should be prepared to use private members' time to dispose of it rather than seeking to alter rules after the fact.
Standing orders and the Business Committee
McGrath rejected proposals to change standing orders to suit a specific agenda, noting that the House has long-standing rules and that the Business Committee had held a constructive meeting to set the schedule. He criticised the pattern of weekly votes on the order of business despite the committee's work.
Acceptance of rulings and concerns about process
He emphasised that rulings from the chair must be accepted and warned against everyone acting as their own adjudicator. McGrath framed the continued pursuit of the motion as an attempt to dictate the pace and agenda of the House rather than following established mechanisms.
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We have come to the conclusion a few weeks back that there was no grounds for impeachment, and that is why we are opposed to any motion, and this is simply grandstanding and game-playing. We had a debate last week with the Minister, albeit not limited, and I respect the legal advice that we have gotten, and I thank you for organising it, and we are only holding up the show. If they could remove the motion, then it would not be coming up every week, because I think it is only just grandstanding and showboarding. I don't think we can make up the rules as we go along, and we have a law at the Oil Reform Committee, it has met on quite a number of occasions, it has laid out the standing orders of the House, a long-standing precedent that the Clown Coerle, following advice and so forth, adjudicates on issues, and sometimes that adjudication doesn't find favour with some in the House, but that doesn't mean that though some then can dictate the pace, and dictate the agenda, because it doesn't suit. And it is not fair to say that the motion lies on the order paper. It is a matter of considerable import, and any person tabling a motion of that kind, given the constitutional nature of it, given its profound implications, one would have thought they would be quite prepared to use their private members' time to dispose of it and to deal with it, one way or the other. But instead, what the proposition seems to be, we want to change the ground rules, as laid down by the Dáil and as interpreted, to suit our particular case. And it is the case that, like the Business Committee, it seems to me, I checked before I came in, were there any issues likely to arise, and no, there was quite a constructive Business Committee meeting held this week to prepare for this week. Every week now, without fail, there are votes on the order of business, every week, notwithstanding the Business Committee meeting and ordering the schedule and so on. And I think there is a mechanism for dealing with this, and it should have been availed of, and, you know, it's late in the day now, following the tabling of the motion, to say we must now reform how we do standing orders to suit our agenda or suit a particular agenda. I don't think that's on, quite frankly, and if there's a ruling from the chair, there comes a time when that ruling has to be accepted as well, because we can't all be rulers, we can't all be concorders in this House.
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