EDITORIAL: Dáil debacles, shaky starts and knotty problems

The new government has hardly had an auspicious start.
The demands of the Regional Independents Group (RIG) for opposition speaking rights in the Dáil resulted in chaotic scenes in the chamber and scuttled the planned election of a taoiseach on January 22. The Government’s singularly inept handling of this opening debacle has been obvious to all.
On Monday evening, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy ruled that non-ministerial Regional Independent Group TDs cannot form a technical group for opposition speaking time. Her ruling is an embarrassing blow to the Government, which had backed the Michael Lowry-led RIGgers, who are supporting the FF/FG-led coalition.
Then there was last week’s blizzard of junior-ministerial appointments, the necessity for which convinced nobody.
The claim by the leaders that the increase was necessary because of the onerous workload and more complex challenges in running the country hardly stands up to scrutiny. Much more realistic is the acceptance that most of the appointments were based on geographical location or as reward for electoral success.
Nor can it be doubted that the appointment list was a nod towards gender balance, a stick that the Government cut to beat itself with when the first list of Cabinet postings revealed that only three women had made it into the top 15.
In that regard, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have managed to throw some water on the flames of criticism. Of the 23 junior ministers appointed, six are women; added to the three already given senior status, it means that of the 38 ministerial posts, nine are held by women. If that seems well short of the 50/50 that logic might demand, it is worth remembering that of 86 TDs elected to the combined ranks of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, only 17 are female. (The male-candidate-skewing circumstances that led to that particular gender imbalance, however, are for another day.)
But one of the most knotty problems, now to be decided by the courts, centres on the so-called super juniors, that peculiar crossbreed of semi seniors of whom there will be four in the coming administration.
It was back in 1994 that the novel concept of the super minister – referred to by many as the ‘high chair’ at the Cabinet table – was first introduced. The first to be awarded the new title was Pat Rabbitte, then of Democratic Left. This meant he was afforded the privilege of being allowed to attend Cabinet meetings though not a member of the Government. The fact that no less than four such nominees will sit at the table of the incoming administration has caused no little alarm, both within and outside the political bubble.
The notion that these super juniors are mere passive observers of what goes on at Cabinet, that they act on a ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ basis, has been roundly debunked in the past few weeks.
Former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, was the first to blow away the myth when he recalled that, in his time, super juniors were treated as equals, each had a full set of advisers, and each brought to Cabinet their own memos for decision and action. And when it came to the plea that super juniors did not have a vote on major decisions, Varadkar pointed out that Cabinet decisions rarely go to a vote in any event.
Add to that the new political reality that two of the super juniors are members of the Michael Lowry-led Regional Independent Group. How credible would it be that this duo would not be expected to report back to their colleagues and keep them updated on Cabinet plans and Government thinking?
The formation of the new Dáil has provided a master class in the negotiating skills of the said Michael Lowry. Ostensibly seeking no rewards for himself, he has secured five junior ministries for his acolytes, including two at super level, together with the election of the Ceann Comhairle. And, it is said, he may not be finished there, with an expected payoff when the Taoiseach comes to nominate his personal choices for eleven seats in the Seanad.
Nor will the newly minted 23 junior ministers go unrewarded for their future exertions. A junior gets a generous €45,846 on top of the basic TD salary of €113,670, while those lucky enough to be promoted to super status are rewarded with a further top up of €3,145.
From a regional perspective, we in the west can feel well satisfied with our representation at the higher echelons of power.
Apart from Dara Calleary’s well-merited and welcome appointment to senior ministerial level, there is a plethora of eager juniors now ready to go out to bat for the interests of rural Ireland. With one in Donegal, one in Sligo, our own Alan Dillon, three more in Galway West (all three, remarkably, crowned as super juniors), Timmy Dooley in Clare and Niall Collins in Limerick, our expectations, not unreasonably, will be sky high.
The test will be whether their appointments are no more than patronage and political expediency, as the cynics claim, or whether they will make any meaningful contribution to the glaring imbalance between Ireland’s regions. The answer should be clear soon enough.