Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The office of Ceann Comhairle has been dragged into a mess of the Government’s making. The Ceann Comhairle's position has become untenable because of a deal between the Government and Michael Lowry and his group. The big question is why. Why is the Government willing to go to such lengths to facilitate Mr. Lowry? Why does it insist that someone can be in government and in opposition at the same time, all for Mr. Lowry? None of us knows why. Mr. Lowry is certainly not saying. He is showing everyone the two fingers. None of us knows what is in the secret, grubby deal the Government negotiated with Michael Lowry, but we know it included the very office of Ceann Comhairle, so here we are at this impasse.

This is the last thing any of us in the Labour Party wanted. Throughout my career, I have been proud to work constructively and collaboratively. That is what Labour Party activists do in the Dáil, the Seanad and the European Parliament, and on our councils and in our communities. We use our voices to raise the issues that matter on housing, healthcare, climate, jobs and the cost of living. On the eve of Trump’s tariffs and with the threat of a global Trump slump, this is a time to work constructively to address these issues. I am glad we have been able to do that over the past few weeks but undoubtedly much attention has been focused on the ludicrous Lowry affair. Regrettably, it has culminated in the dragging into the picture of the Ceann Comhairle’s office.

We in Labour worked hard to find a resolution to this from the start. The Taoiseach has left the Chamber, but he will recall that I approached him and the Tánaiste very early on in the process, directly here in the Chamber, seeking to find a resolution. This was rejected by both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste initially. I am glad that all the leaders of all the parties then came together. We reached an agreement in good faith, which was read into the Dáil record by the former Government Chief Whip, Hildegarde Naughton. It stated that the Government would work to secure agreement on this matter acceptable to Government and Opposition. Who reneged on that deal? It was not the Labour Party or any other Opposition party. It was the Government.

A number of concerns arise as a result of the ramming through of the change to Standing Orders that the Government insisted on proposing. First, we see an unacceptable outcome, where the Lowry lads and lassie are now to be regarded as being on both sides of the fence, in a cynical manner occupying both Government and Opposition benches and, in some cases, moving to and fro among benches. Second, the Government sought to create this shame set piece. We will see it tomorrow in the new Other Members’ Questions slot, which is a sort of theatrical Government TDs’ parliamentary party meeting in public. A parliamentary party meeting in private-----

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