Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Clearly, the issue before us today that the Minister has introduced is about increasing the number of junior Ministers, and of super junior Ministers who attend but do not speak at Cabinet meetings. As the Minister will know, one of the regrets is that there are a number of cases before the High Court at the moment in relation to this. One seeks a judicial review and one seeks an injunction. Legislation is being shunted through both Houses of the Oireachtas without any benefit of judicial guidance on this matter, which is something that is clearly required.

Article 28 of the Constitution stipulates that "the Government shall meet and act as a collective authority, and shall be collectively responsible for the Departments of State.". That collective responsibility has always been understood as being that Government decisions are taken by membership of the Government. That is one of the issues I challenge here. The second is the issue of confidentiality, which was obviously subject to an amendment to the Constitution in 1997 to explicitly enshrine the confidentiality of Cabinet discussions. That makes it clear that Cabinet discussions should not be witnessed by anyone who is not a member of the Government. This proposition potentially falls foul of all of that.

The Government has not got off to a very auspicious start - from the initial attempt to place Government-supporting TDs on the Opposition benches and giving them speaking time, although thankfully, it has retreated from that position, to the decision to take a week off during the time that the country was being ravaged by, and is still suffering the after effects of, Storm Éowyn. We are now in a position where this proposition is being forced through the Dáil and Seanad at a rapid pace with all Stages being taken in one day. That does not add to a sense of the Government doing things correctly, by the book and getting on with its business in the interest of the country.

The Minister outlined the progression over the years in relation to this and clearly that has grown and grown. The number of Ministers of State and of super junior Ministers is a new concept. He outlined the issues in relation to complexity of policy and cross-cutting issues in relation to Government. There is no doubt there has been increasing complexity in terms of how Governments do their business. For instance, when we take the removal of trade from its natural home in the Department of enterprise and put it into the Department run by the Tánaiste, which is clearly something Fine Gael or the Tánaiste required as an addition to his brief, we wonder where the complexities and lack of joined up Government is created.

The Minister chartered the progression of legislation in relation to the increases but this does not put a stop to that. This does not mean that at the formation of the next Government, there will not be another increase. The benefit of people playing a role in government is reduced and is considered as part of a negotiation - a negotiation in this instance brokered by Deputy Lowry - but a negotiation nonetheless about awarding positions to try to get support for a Government rather than as the Minister outlined in his defence of it something which increases the efficiency of Government. From our perspective, this is more about the spoils of a negotiation rather than the effectiveness of Government.

There is an opportunity under Article 26 of the Constitution for the President to look at this and to ask the Council of State to discuss the constitutionality of it, but for our part, as far as today goes, we will oppose the legislation and will vote against it. It is a matter of regret we are in a situation where rather than wait until we get some judicial advice in relation to this matter, we press on with forcing this through both Houses of the Oireachtas.