Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As we have heard, yesterday the Taoiseach joined the Northern Ireland First Minister, Ms Arlene Foster, to answer media questions on the unprecedented challenges now being faced by the people North and South as a result of the UK Brexit vote. In recent days the Taoiseach had floated the idea of an all-island forum so we could have a consensus on the island on how to deal with this. As others have said, this idea was floated many times over the weekend by a number of the Taoiseach's Ministers. However, at yesterday's press conference, it became clear the Taoiseach had failed to prepare the ground with the Northern Ireland First Minister; the result was the proposal was rejected by her publicly in a very humiliating way. Yesterday's exchange was reminiscent of a previous Fine Gael Taoiseach who in 1984 faced the media to answer questions about the future of North-South relations. In both instances, the authority of the office of the Taoiseach and, more importantly, the interests of Ireland, were damaged.

The Taoiseach's authority has also been damaged on the domestic front. We see the spectacle this week of the Head of Government being faced down by members of his own Cabinet over a Private Members' Bill on fatal foetal abnormalities. The Attorney General has consistently been of the view that this legislation is unconstitutional. We now see a position where some Ministers, including some sitting at the Cabinet table, are taking an àla carteapproach to the advice of the Attorney General. This advice is not, as one member of the Government stated, merely "a legal opinion". It is the considered view of the chief law officer of the State, whose constitutional functions are clearly laid out in Bunreacht na hÉireann. The Independent Alliance Ministers do not seem to accept that, or if they do, they do not seem to be too bothered by it. The Minister of State, Deputy John Halligan, has stated he does not care if the Bill is unconstitutional.

What is even more extraordinary is that this has not caused the Taoiseach to bat an eyelid.

There were noises last week to the effect that the Taoiseach would reassert the primacy of the Constitution and would require Ministers to accept the doctrine, dating from the foundation of the State, of collective Cabinet responsibility and to abide by decisions of the Cabinet. What does the Taoiseach intend to do now to reassert the rule of law and the primacy of the Constitution in this Government? Is he indifferent to Ministers ignoring long-established constitutional rules, or is it simply the case now, in this new political paradigm, that no rules apply as long as the Government continues?

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