***DÁIL ROW*** WHAT DEBT YOU OWE TO LOWRY?? - Deputy Mary Lou McDonald- speech from 25 Mar 2025

Welcome to Leaders' Questions, where Ireland's leaders face the heat, the pressure and the toughest questions of the day. The Taoiseach is hellbent on upending the democratic functioning of the Dáil to protect his grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry. Today, Taoiseach, you will try to ram through unprecedented changes to Dáil rules to allow Deputy Larry and his group of TDs to sit in government and opposition at the same time. TDs who have pledged to support your government in good days and in bad, to use their own words. It is a farce, making a mockery of this Dáil and, frankly, it is staggering the lengths to which you have gone with this brazen stroke. So, let's put an end to the charade Taoiseach. The Michael Lowry Group are government TDs, plain and simple. They designated themselves as such when they helped to negotiate, write and agree your programme for government. Their colleagues were rewarded with ministerial office. That is the reality. On January 23rd, your government gave its word that you would work for a solution acceptable to both government and opposition. Hildegard Nocton, then Chief Whip, pledged in the Dáil to, and I quote, work to secure agreement as soon as possible and acceptable to government and opposition. But clearly, Taoiseach, your word means nothing. Because you have gone back on your commitment and have made no genuine effort to find a resolution. Instead, you propose to turn the Dáil inside out by allowing government TDs access to the mechanisms which the actual opposition use to hold your government to account. You want the utterly absurd spectacle of Michael Lowry and his group taking leaders' questions, pretending to challenge the government that they are part of. This is a sham. And you have dug in because you do not want to be accountable. Your claim that this is all about speaking time for backbenches is patently untrue. In fact, you want to get rid of Taoiseach's questions on a Wednesday. So, pull the other one Taoiseach. Accountability matters. Just ask those you misled on housing delivery during the election. Ask the parents of children with special needs who the government led up the garden path on funding of services. But you do not want to be accountable. Isn't that the truth Taoiseach? So, what exactly does Michael Lowry have over you, Micheál Martin? What debt do you owe to him? A former Fine Gael minister? A rogue politician, as you described him? Now kingmaker for your government? A man who you want to sit in both government and opposition at the same time? The combined opposition has repeatedly sought to meet with you to resolve this matter. Our offers have either been rejected or ignored. You act in bad faith. And to meet your narrow, short-term need to placate Lowry and Co., you now propose to do real and lasting damage to the democratic processes of the Dáil. The combined opposition are not backing down on this matter. We reject your attempt to run roughshod over this Dáil and to ram through this motion. You can step back from the brink, Taoiseach. You can still meet with the opposition to work out a solution. But what you will not get away with is pretending that signed and sealed government TDs can act as opposition. You cannot be in government and opposition at the same time. But suitable Kerry dansers ceiling and当 vontßt's write-off optimist. I rem danse le revisions in a failed event at the same time. But I don't take money from the Cuban Euros and to banres back-to Lynda. And even after you, Christian MacLeod, we vote 8 no-may, 8 no-may In the Dáil 8 no-may In the Dáil In essence, I have to say that the distortion of the debate is extraordinary. The disproportionate response of Sinn Féin, and indeed the opposition, is extraordinary. When you consider that this Dáil meets 101 days approximately a year. What has been proposed for 60 TDs, that they would have an opportunity of eight minutes on a Tuesday and eight minutes on a Wednesday to ask questions of the Taoiseach of the Day. That actually means that for an individual in that 60, it could be an opportunity—I have not interrupted anybody—it basically means that once a year a backbench TD may get that opportunity to speak in these other questions. For all of that, the opposition has manufactured a political role and raised this to heights that are quite farcical, given the enormity of the issues we have to face as a country. And if I could say— If I may say— Deputies, do you wish to listen to the answer and to respect for the function? I respect— I respect— Again, I respect— I respect— I respect— Deputy— Deputy Deputy, to the Taoiseach for these things to speak! Deputy I respect the right of every Deputy who has elected to this House. I respect their rights. I respect the rights to be heard, as well as to speak. speak. There is an attempt already to frustrate my attempt to speak here this morning in response or this afternoon in response to Deputy McDonagh. I would say that what the Opposition in a more serious vein has been about, the Opposition has been endeavouring to direct a new departure, or dictate a new departure, whereby the Opposition are now saying that it is up to them to decide who sits where in this House, who forms what group and who becomes a member of that. That is unprecedented by Annie Yardstead. I have never, and I am in this House, I am standing and I expect that you will respect the Chair. We are in a democratic House. This is the Leader's question, whether you like what has been said or not, please listen. That is the process. We have a lot of visitors in our gallery, the public are watching. I am asking that you have respect for one another, one and all. That is all I am asking for those who are watching. I was elected to this House first in 1989. I have never seen an attempt like this to say the independent... I have never seen an attempt like this to tell... Deputies, while you may not have respect for me, I am the Chair. When I speak, nobody else speaks. Deputies, I am asking you to respect the process and the operation of the House. That means that when I speak, I ask you to have respect for the Chair. That decision has been made and it is well gone. We are in the democratic process of where we are in a different matter today. I will ask Deputy MacDonald to respond. Deputy MacDonald, with the greatest of respect, we are on the same ground. Micheál Martin can spare us and the nation his sanctimonious homilies on democracy. You are here since 1989. A lifetime, a political lifetime, never has such a brazen stroke been attempted. Never. In all of the peculiar shenanigans of this place, never something like this. You were quick enough to throw your own people under the bus in the last hall when it suited you. It is incredible that you will go to these extraordinary lengths for Deputy Michael Lowry. We are asking why. We should have an answer to that. And Taoiseach, it is as simple as this. You should not take people for fools. People know that for their interests to be protected, for politics and democracy to work, there is the government with its prerogatives to discharge. We respect that. You need to respect the duty and the prerogatives of opposition. You do not want that. You want to blunt opposition because you do not want to be held to account. If you are worried about your backbenchers, leave Taoiseach's questions on a Wednesday. That gives ample opportunity to raise matters with them. I hope Deputy MacDonald notes that she got full respect and opportunity to speak from this side of the House. I was not afforded that respect and courtesy from the other side of the House when I endeavoured to answer a while ago to her questions. What I want to say fundamentally to Deputy MacDonald is that I have never witnessed before parties trying to tell others what box they are in and what group they are in. I have never mentioned before, thank you. That is unprecedented. Deputy MacDonald, you resume your seat when the Count Carle is standing. I will say we have spent hours—I have invested as much as 20 hours over the past months trying to come to a consensus and an agreement. Unfortunately, we have reached an impasse and when we reach an impasse we then move to the mechanism that moves all democratically elected from an impasse which is the voting mechanism. We are now, excuse me deputies, we are, we are, I have, I, I have, I, Thank you. Resume Deputy. Resume your seat deputy. You should resume your seat. You know the rulings of the the House? Mr Deputy, is it that you do not have respect for me or the Chair? Because now it is becoming apparent that it is now becoming apparent that I would ask that you respect the Chair. It is not me, I am not concerned, but I am the Count Corle and I am sitting in the Chair. But I expect the level of respect to come from each and every member when I speak. It is well documented the disruption and the level of which it is to go today. We are either going to continue with leaders' questions or we can move on. You may not like the answers that you are getting, I can't instruct answers, excuse me, I cannot, my function is to chair this stall and ensure that the House operates and we are moving with the business. I now move to Deputy Ivana Bacik.