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WITH 38 MINISTERS, the new government is the largest in the history of the State. Of these, 15 are full ministers and 23 are junior Ministers, including four ‘Super Junior’ Ministers who attend Cabinet.
The government has tried to justify this expansion by reference to an increase in the size of the population. This makes no sense when you consider the fact that many larger countries have fewer Ministers (Denmark with a population of 6 million has 25 Ministers) and international trends don’t suggest a strong correlation between population and number of Ministers.
The real reason is much baser — this is about sharing the spoils of power between a number of different parties and groupings.
Having forced a waiver of any pre-legislative scrutiny last week, later today the government will push through legislation to increase the maximum number of Junior Ministers from 20 to 23, and the maximum number of ‘Super Juniors’ who attend meetings of the Government from three to four. The legislation will also enable the payment of additional allowances to ‘Super Juniors’.
The government’s first legislative act is expanding the number of Ministers. Its second is lining their pockets. Previously, they had to get by on a modest combined salary and expenses of €176,000 (more than four times average earnings!). Former Fine Gael chief whip, Paul Kehoe, incredibly put on the poor mouth, and claimed that junior ministers were sleeping in hostels as a result. Now the government is changing the law to ensure they will now get an additional set of expenses worth tens of thousands of euros!
The clearest example of this sharing out of the spoils of power is the increase in the number of ‘Super Juniors’. What started out as one ‘Super Junior’ in 1994 has ballooned into a record four this time around. Their connections to the secret deals between the government parties and groupings are illustrated by the fact that two out of the four are ‘Independents’ from Michael Lowry’s Regional Group (Seán Canney and Noel Grealish). Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael also get one each.
Junior Ministers are created by legislation, not by the Constitution, so there is no constitutional limit on how many can be created. However, the creation of Junior Ministers who attend Cabinet, the so-called ‘Super Junior’ Ministers, is very likely a breach of the Constitution.
Last week I initiated a High Court action seeking an injunction preventing ‘Super Junior’ Ministers from attending the Cabinet, as their attendance breaches Articles 6,13 and 28 of the Constitution. I also sought a declaration by the High Court that the additional allowances paid to ‘Super Juniors’ are invalid.
The Constitutional argument is very simple. Article 28 of the Constitution states;
“The Government shall consist of not less than seven and not more than fifteen members…”
The Constitution also states that the government shall act collectively and confidentially. But the attendance of ‘Super Junior’ Ministers is in clear breach of that.
The truth is that these ‘Super Junior’ attendees effectively act as Ministers. Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gave the game away last month when he wrote in The Sunday Times that these ‘Super Junior’ Minister positions were used to “get around the ‘rule of 15’”.
He explained that at Cabinet, “they were treated as equals, had a full set of advisers and brought their own memos for decisions.”
They get the extra allowances, and attend and participate in all Cabinet discussions. All of this breaches the Constitution for the sole purpose of spreading around the spoils of office. This is a political stroke.
Leo Varadkar has written that perhaps “it’s time to bite the bullet and amend the Constitution to allow for the number of senior ministers to increase”. Then let’s have that debate and allow the people to decide in a referendum.
We in People Before Profit want to see a radically different Constitution, as the basis for a secular, truly democratic and socialist society which enshrines people’s rights to housing, healthcare and a healthy environment. One that would see elected representatives on the average workers’ wage and recallable by those who elect them. One that would ensure that decision-making is carried out transparently and in the clear view of the public.
But while we have a Constitution that limits the number of Ministers to 15, we will not allow the government to breach it in order to fit more snouts at the trough of government.
Paul Murphy is People Before Profit TD for Dublin South West.
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Is the Climate Change Advisory Council independent? Who elected theses ‘experts’?
If we can’t tackle cronyism, favouritism and nepotism. It’s what fuelling distrust of our political system. Are those you gain from political strokes the best ‘experts’ to offer advice?
@leartius: Independent from what? Surely not rom ideology. Independent means not responsible to anyone. I do demand any authority to be answerable to democratic process.
@leartius: back to the drawing board I’d say…..
More taxes will fix it
People want to work from home. Let them. It cuts down so much on commuter hours.thats where they should start. Then fix rural public transport for people who can’t work from home.
How many more opinion pieces about climate change are you going to publish?? Mainstream media here in Ireland needs to cool the jets. Even the advertisements are at it now.
We know climate change is an issue, we get it, we are doing all we can but nothing can change until the big corporations, governments and powerful nations like USA and China do something.
All these opinion pieces are targeted for the same people over and over again, it will result in climate fatigue. The average Joe just won’t care anymore. Anytime I switch on Sky or RTE or open the journal we are bombarded with it.
It’s just turning into one big cliche.
How many times can someone talk about the issue without saying what’s already been said before?
@Darren Anthony Corr: to be honest the quality of journalism is quite poor. merely emotional sound bites without logic or even a vision of a plan that might actually work. quoting young people all the time who dont really understand the issues involved. msm is just full of populist nonsense these days.
We were lighting the fire pretty much every day from the end of September onwards last year. This year we’ve had to light a grand total of two fires so far, both at the end of October. I was walking around Tralee today in a t-shirt, in mid November. Just my own experience but I should have been frozen with the cold today and it was grand. Don’t really remember it being this mild so late in the year before but I don’t remember lots of things sometimes! Anyone remember anything like this recently?
Population reduction is the only way to counter the offensive ‘emmitions’ which are caused by being alive. Our politicians strive for population growth, economy growth, investment in infrastructure, building more crappy houses, larger markets, More demand for consumable stuff, all great for business, not great for environment. There should be incentives for people to elect for sterilisation, and measures put in place to shrink the population if they were serious about it. Instead it’s wind farms and electric cars.
@Eamonn O’Hanrahan: Nothing stopping your from getting sterilised of you wish.
good point. also Govt has no solutions just taxes. we have insufficient power generation f ev’s. we have insufficient surge capacity in our grid for ev’s. Ev’s wont work for tractors, hgv’s, trains or ships but hydrogen will / no plan. No plan for hydtogen fuel cell cars for those who cannot install a charging point or who criss cross the country needing fast fill up.
@Damian Moylan: “we have insufficient power generation f ev’s… but hydrogen will / no plan. No plan for hydtogen fuel cell cars”
I don’t understand how one pivots from insufficient power for EVs to – what about hydrogen, which requires about around about 3 times the electric.
It has the motorists. I mean it must be yeah? Let’s tax them even more, they are an easy target? 2m plus vehicles on the roads. Sure it makes sense? Let’s invent new levies and new taxes because that’ll solve the problem. It’s not agriculture or other sectors nope, couldn’t be.
We’ll have to go back to turning off the immersion
Big break through in cop-on26 Ireland is been shut down The world is saved China and the US are giving us badges for our sacrifice
We does Ireland go from here?
Subsidise materials like insulation for retro fitting so people can DIY, cut down on beaurcracy.
Stop building on low levels near the sea and rivers.
Become more food secure, diversify farming, subsidise smaller farms and organic/chemical free
Planning exemptions for buildings made with natural materials/composting loos etc.
Make rainwater harvesting mandatory in all new builds
Fuel rationing for cars, even out the rural v urban obstacle.
Limit on outdoor lighting on private dwellings.
Limit on no. Properties unless landlord.
Tax on airline travel.
@Anarch Eco: do what Colm Molloy said
@Anarch Eco: taxing air travel isnt the answer to that industry and its emmitance. The rich will continue to travel as much as always and the poor still will want to get their one sunshine holiday a year, only it will cost them more and hurt their home finances. Ireland is an island with miserable summers and you can’t bank on a decent week in August. Taxing things like this only serve to widen the gap in the haves and haven’ts.
@Jeff Cole: oh theres wealth taxes in there too.
Plenty of years with good weather in may/June/july, august should be cancelled.
Studying up on the current planetary pole shift would be an excellent start
have your say