Paul Murphy: Opposition time cut by 69.5 minutes weekly
Paul Murphy challenged changes to parliamentary business, arguing the opposition's speaking time is being cut by 69 and a half minutes every week. He said order-of-business opposition time is halved from one minute to 30 seconds, Taoiseach's questions are cut from 90 minutes to 45, and private members' time is reduced by 22 minutes.
He detailed the weekly losses to opposition speaking time, saying the changes halve the minute allowed to oppose the order of business to 30 seconds and reduce Taoiseach's questions from 90 minutes to 45. He warned that hundreds of questions would go unanswered as a result and highlighted a total weekly cut of 69 and a half minutes.
He disputed claims that only eight minutes were being reallocated, saying instead that 56 minutes of the lost time is being diverted to Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael and the Lowry group. He said that time would appear as additional leaders' questions, priority questions to ministers and extra time on private members' business.
He accused Count Corlea of a role that was "nothing short of disgraceful" and warned that he would not accept Michael Lowry or members of his group asking leaders' questions next week. He said the changes would not be accepted and signalled continued opposition to the new arrangements.
He criticised the business committee process as a charade, saying an allegedly agreed order of business is repeatedly contested in the chamber and that those disputes waste 10 to 15 minutes when deputies could raise constituency or other issues. He also accused some deputies of dominating proceedings and taking excessive time when opposing for what he called superficial reasons.
Opposition time reductions
He detailed the weekly losses to opposition speaking time, saying the changes halve the minute allowed to oppose the order of business to 30 seconds and reduce Taoiseach's questions from 90 minutes to 45. He warned that hundreds of questions would go unanswered as a result and highlighted a total weekly cut of 69 and a half minutes.
Where the time is going
He disputed claims that only eight minutes were being reallocated, saying instead that 56 minutes of the lost time is being diverted to Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael and the Lowry group. He said that time would appear as additional leaders' questions, priority questions to ministers and extra time on private members' business.
Condemnation of officials and planned resistance
He accused Count Corlea of a role that was "nothing short of disgraceful" and warned that he would not accept Michael Lowry or members of his group asking leaders' questions next week. He said the changes would not be accepted and signalled continued opposition to the new arrangements.
Business committee and order-of-business disputes
He criticised the business committee process as a charade, saying an allegedly agreed order of business is repeatedly contested in the chamber and that those disputes waste 10 to 15 minutes when deputies could raise constituency or other issues. He also accused some deputies of dominating proceedings and taking excessive time when opposing for what he called superficial reasons.
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Transcript
You have repeatedly told Adal, you did it again today, that this is about eight minutes of time and that the opposition isn't losing a single minute of speaking time. I'm asking you to confirm that that is not true, that it's not something the media should be repeating without interrogation, because it's not based on facts. You're cutting the opposition time every single week by 69 and a half minutes. You're halving from a minute, a meagre minute, to 30 seconds for each group to oppose the order of business. You are halving the time for Taoiseach's questions from 90 minutes a week to 45 minutes a week. Hundreds of questions that will simply go unanswered because you do not want to be held accountable. And you're cutting time for the opposition groups in private members' time by 22 minutes a week. And where is that time going? Not eight minutes, but 56 minutes of that time is going to Fianna Fáil, going to Fianna Gael and going to the Lowry group in the form of leaders' questions, in the form of priority questions to ministers and in the form of extra time on private members' business. I'll just finish on this. If you think that Michael Lowry or members of his group asking leaders' questions will be accepted here next week, you have another thing coming. The role of the Count Corlea in this has been nothing short of disgraceful, but this is not over. It will not be accepted, this destruction of the rights of the opposition in his stall. I remember that former Deputy Michael Barry, your colleague, when he was first elected to the House on his first day, he said, you know, there's a saying in France, he says that you must bring the politics of the street into the Parliament. And that has always been your view, Deputy Murphy Europe. Yeah, exactly. So you don't agree actually with parliamentary institutions. So it's no surprise to me that you've threatened basically more mayhem, more chaos next week, because that's what you do. In terms of the order of business, we've had the charade now for quite a long time of the business committee meeting, for a lengthy period, the order of business allegedly agreed. Then we come in here, and then people stand up and down saying we don't agree with the order of business. Sometimes you lose 10 or 15 minutes when other deputies could have the opportunity to raise issues specifically, either to their constituencies or issues that they're concerned about. No, we're allowing deputies a greater say and not to be dominated by yourself and others, who tend to dominate and take 10 minutes of other people's time every time you oppose, sometimes for superficial reasons.