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SUSPENDED GREEN PARTY TD Neasa Hourigan has said she remains undecided on whether to back the government in an upcoming no-confidence vote in the Dáil.
Hourigan and her party colleague Patrick Costello had the whip removed from them in May after they voted against the coalition on an issue related to the relocation of the National Maternity Hospital.
Their votes could be key in Tuesday’s no-confidence motion in the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Green Party administration.
“I am as yet undecided,” Hourigan told RTE Radio One.
She that government whips had not yet been in contact with her about the confidence vote.
“I would appreciate if I could get some communication from the whips around what is expected when you are suspended.”
The motion, which has been brought by Sinn Féin, comes after the government lost its majority in the Dáil.
Fine Gael TD and former education minister Joe McHugh resigned the party whip after he voted against the government’s controversial Bill to provide redress to homeowners in counties affected by defective building blocks.
The loss of McHugh saw the number of government TDs drop to 79 – one short of a Dail majority.
Hourigan’s insistence that the party whips had not been in contact with her appeared at odds with a claim from Green Party minister of state Pippa Hackett, who said she understood that there had been engagement with the suspended TDs.
Speaking to RTE One, Hackett added: “We have no concerns about next week’s vote of confidence in us, I think this is not surprising from Sinn Féin in the last week of the Dail term to come up with this.”
Last year, Fianna Fáil also lost one of its TDs when Marc MacSharry quit the party.
The three government parties are hoping that he, Hourigan, Costello and McHugh will all back them in the vote.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin is also hopeful of securing the backing of several other independent TDs.
As such, government ministers are confident of winning the vote, despite Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit/Solidarity, the Rural Independents and Aontú all set to support the Sinn Féin motion.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said independent TDs were facing a “big call” on whether they were going to back “bad government” or instead “stand up and be counted” to secure a change in administration.
Fine Gael minister of state Peter Burke branded the motion a “stunt” that would waste Dáil time.
“The Government and Fine Gael are completely focused on tackling the issues that impact on people’s lives, and Sinn Féin’s politically motivated motion will simply take valuable Dáil time away from that work,” he said.
Earlier, McDonald rejected claims her party’s motion was a “stunt” that was unlikely to succeed.
“Democracy isn’t stunts and parliamentary procedures are not stunts,” she told BBC NI.
“The Government has lost its Dáil majority. They’ve been in office for two years and, despite their protestations to the contrary, we have seen a bad situation made worse by their inability to innovate, to deliver, to change and the time has come now and the time is right to call that out.”
She challenged undecided TDs to back no confidence.
“There are others now who have a big call to make and will have a big call to make on Tuesday and it boils down to this – do they believe that this Government is successful? The evidence clearly demonstrates that they are not.
“But those TDs need to now decide will they vote to allow a bad government to continue and for people to suffer, or will they stand up and be counted, back our motion and allow the opportunity for a new government, for a government of change that can actually deliver in the way that people need.”
One issue that could influence how some TDs vote is the government’s plan to tackle climate change.
Rural members are concerned that setting an onerous carbon reduction target for the agriculture setting could devastate the industry.
At the weekend it emerged that Environment Minister and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan will not bring a final plan setting out sectoral emission targets to Cabinet this week as originally planned.
Mr Ryan and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue have yet to agree what requirements will be imposed on the farming sector. They are trying to settle on a target within a range of 22% to 30%.
Hourigan was asked whether her view of the government would be influenced by the ability of the Greens to secure its climate agenda.
She said if the coalition parties could not agree carbon budgets it would represent a failure.
“The effectiveness of the Greens in government of course has an impact on how I feel about voting on all the difficult issues that come across the table and come up in the Dáil,” she said.
“And that of course does have an impact because you want to make sure that you’re doing what you promised your voters that you would do, that you would go in there and you would fight not just for climate change, but climate change that operates in a way that doesn’t hurt the most vulnerable.”
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Neasa for leadership. Time is now for a radical solution to housing. In 5 or 10 years SF can have a radical solution to housing. But what we do know is FFG will give us another 12 years of the same worsening housing crisis. Call an election now.
@Dean: and why would Neasa be a good leader?
@Dean: Leadership of what? She seems happy to tear apart the green party for her own political ambitions
@Dean: if sf can’t do it in NI, they’re hardly going to do it here.
@John Mulligan: I’m not a shinner but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that can work with the unionists long term.
@Dean: Yes, vote in Neasa as a new leader. A person who was involved in the negotiations for the programme for government. Thereafter, she decided she couldn’t support an agreement she came up with herself. A joke of a politician only seeking to keep her name in the limelight.
@v39e84kK:
Principles. Herself and Patrick have went against the CETA and housing issue, despite the party telling them to stay in line.
FG’s privatisation wants to bring in an Investment Court to allow the state and taxpayers to be sued if capitalists lose money. Keep capitalists away from our housing assets.
The time is now for a general election. It needs to happen.
As developments happen, those 2 are sticking by their principles. Not cabbage ryan and Catherine.
@Dean: The word ” undecided ” says it all.
@John Mulligan: That old chestnut. Government in NI and Government in Ireland are two very different things, there’s no veto in Ireland. No requirement to power share.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: He doesn’t understand politics, thinks we’ve copy & pasted all our rules & regulations from the British.
@Frank Cauldhame: we did actually
@Ro-your-nan: No we did not !
FF/FG/G have had enough time to change things. They can’t be bothered. Time to go.
@Declan Doolan: at least one of them will be sticking around SF won’t be able to form a government themselves.
@Cíarán whyte: not that’s a really DUMB statement
@Cíarán whyte: Before you start calling people ‘dumb’ do you actually know who the ‘majority’ party are considering the government is a coalition???
@Cíarán whyte: SF voters are not dumb. You should retract that remark. It is very insulting to those who have degrees or have highly specialist skills that took years to train or work up. Judging someone because of there political allergies wrong. I thought we had all learned from that divisiveness. I think your comment is a reflection of you. Voting the same parties in expecting change is the definition of dumb! It’s also likely SF will win a majority vote or form a coalition easily compared to the last election based on current polling!
@Cíarán whyte: I would say the only dumb voter are probably the ones who vote FF/FG
@Cíarán whyte: SF voters are not dumb. You should retract that remark. It is very insulting to those who have degrees or have highly specialist skills that took years to train or work up. Judging someone because of their political allegiance is wrong. I thought we had all learned from that divisiveness. I think your comment is a reflection of you. Voting the same parties in expecting change is the definition of dumb! It’s also likely SF will win a majority vote or form a coalition easily compared to the last election based on current polling!
@Cíarán whyte: You do remember that the only reason a lot of FF, FG and Even independents like the Healy-Raes only got in last time because SF didn’t field enough candidates to absorb their vote.
@Frank Cauldhame: the next government will be made up of the shinners and the soldiers of destiny, a Republican Coalition, both parties have a lot in common. Mary Sue is ex FF and the Andrews brothers are on both parties. Both McGuinness and Dev Junior Junior has also expressed a preference to go onto government with the shinners.
@Patrick O Connell: FF (if that happens) will more than likely be the minority/junior member. Its looking like Martin will step aside ( before he’s pushed) but the damage he has inflicted on his party at the expense of his own personal gain/legacy will cost them at least another 10-15 seats from what they have now.
It won’t pass. Just more wasted time and political theatre.
@v39e84kK: Agree, Independents that are owned by FFG will ensure that the government will win the vote. Lowry and the Deliverance crew from Kilgarvan don’t give a hoot about anything unless it affects their own pockets.
@Frank Cauldhame: be a few lads promised a new road or two yeah.
@v39e84kK: The political theatre you comment on was when last in opposition F.F. kept Varadkar and FG in power with a confidence and supply agreement. Bit contradictory don’t you think, especially when it is the duty of the opposition to hold the government to account.
Anything to keep her name in the spot light
She’s trying to capitalise on Sinn Fein’s destabilising stunt. She’s no better than they are, apart from the fact that she doesn’t eulogise murder.
@John Mulligan: dEsTaBiLiSiNg. LMAO
@John Mulligan: why doesn’t your FG/FF Government release all the files they have on the Dublin/Monaghan bombings,
@John Mulligan: You have a bitterness that one rarely finds south of the border
She will lose her steat at the next election
Personally I am delighted for Neasa as she has taken some stick of the Ryan wing of the party.
Now they have to go and play nice with her.
That will stick in their craw, that’s for sure.
Neasa’s housing plan is the best out there, The Vienna Model, council home, privately owned home and cost rental homes . No vultures to be seen and all profits pay for the next build.
Why does she need the whips to contact her on how to vote. Does she not have a mind of her own.
Nessa Who ????? Didn’t even miss her gone from the Dail .. ….
Hourigan is getting attention, and for What ? A day in the limelight and behaving like a juvenile. Her credibility is at the bottom of the barrel as a T.D. without principles, trying to hold her Party and the People to ransom. Shame on her and her stance in this issue.
Nows her chance. Vote No.
Some dose
And it is these type of silly decisions that will bite the government parties on the rear. Suspending government TDs because they did not tow the party line. They need to remember that it is the electorate put those TDs there and with the exception of them doing something illegal, the only people with the right to remove anyone from the dail are that electorate at election time. I’m no fan of the Greens but that is something for all parties.
McSharry and McHugh will vote against Sinn Feins motion,…. so shes wasting her time and the Dail time
PR STUNT
She really is a one woman disaster zone. Greens are better off without her!
Why not just stay true to yourself Nessa?
have your say