The Dáil resumes today after a two week break following the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach.
Political events of the past fortnight had been dominated by a row between Michael Lowry’s Regional Independents and the opposition over speaking rights in the Dáil.
Today’s resumption of the Dáil brings to an end a row centering on the Regional Independent Group who had sought to be recognised as
a technical group which would have seen them on the opposition benches, while supporting the Government.
However the Ceann Comhairle ruled they could not form a technical group to avail of opposition speaking time in the Dáil.
Verona Murphy had previously ruled the group could seek opposition speaking time, which resulted in a furious back lash from opposition parties in the Dáil.
The Regional Group has accepted they will now not be part of a Dáil technical group but said it will seek a significant reform of the Dáil’s standing orders to ensure that Independent TDs supporting the Government get speaking rights in the chamber.
Michael Lowry said the Government now has to examine options to accommodate what he termed supportive Independents.