Oireachtas round-up

The primary care centres dispute, pressures on farmers and steps toward greater European integration were major items on the Oireachtas agenda in October.

Reflecting on a summer of Irish sporting glory, Enda Kenny put his “admiration for the efforts of all of those who competed for Ireland” on the record of the House on 2 October and repeated his “heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to all those who represented Ireland in the Paralympics.”

The next day, Fianna Fáil TD Billy Kelleher regretted that the “sordid, grubby affair of primary care centre selection” was “dominating the headlines again”. Health Minister James Reilly denied any wrongdoing when he appeared before the House. Reilly stated that “all Cabinet colleagues were able to sign off” on the list of primary care centres and it was therefore “a government decision.”

In his address to the Dáil the next day, European Parliament President Martin Schulz supported the adjustment of Ireland’s bail-out programme before the end of the year. Schulz has been keen to raise the Parliament’s profile and wants it to be counted as equal to national governments. “Post-war Europe is founded on the sober acknowledgement of the fact that our interests can no longer be separated from those of our neighbours,” he remarked. “Either we all lose or we all win.”

Éamon Ó Cuív meanwhile brought the difficulties facing farmers to the Dáil’s attention on 9-10 October with his motion calling for an “effective” essential fuel user rebate. Speakers from the Government benches referred repeatedly to Food Harvest 2020 but Ó Cuív regretted that the coalition “never had the grace to recognise the work done by the previous administration in this regard.”

The second stage of the Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012 marked a further step towards the State’s ratification of the Stability Treaty. “A number of deputies criticised the Bill as being a charter for continued austerity and therefore not sustainable,” Alan Shatter remarked as its debate concluded. “What is not sustainable is the prospect of continuing to borrow approximately €1.5 billion each and every month.”

Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, with Fianna Fáil support, challenged the Government to reverse cuts to home care budgets. James Reilly, in turn, maintained that “all developments can only be addressed in the light of the current economic and budgetary pressures” and noted that Sinn Féin was also cutting services in the North; the party denies the accusation.

Finian McGrath, meanwhile, resigned as chair of the Technical Group after Mick Wallace’s re-admission. In the Seanad, Katherine Zappone called for the Government to postpone its referendum on abolition and instead allow a debate on “radical reform.” Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fáil) also summed up the historic importance of that decision as “if there is an abolition of this House, it will be gone and not return.”