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'Money message' row: High Court refuses injunction to change Dáil business

The High Court has refused an injunction to force a change to Dáil business - but will grant lea...
Newstalk
Newstalk

16.31 6 Nov 2019


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'Money message' row: High Cour...

'Money message' row: High Court refuses injunction to change Dáil business

Newstalk
Newstalk

16.31 6 Nov 2019


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The High Court has refused an injunction to force a change to Dáil business - but will grant leave for a judicial review sought by People Before Profit TDs.

It comes amid a row over a motion on 'money messages'.

Judge Garrett Simons said "there is at least an arguable case that the current understanding of the money message procedure may be overly generous - or overly broad".

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He explained he wouldn't grant an injunction as he was concerned about the separation of powers, and this would have been the courts re-writing the Dáil order paper.

People Before Profit - Solidarity TD Paul Murphy described the decision as a "partial victory" in their campaign.

The motion in question aims to change the rules that mean any laws proposed by the opposition have to be approved by the Taoiseach through a so-called 'money message'.

More than 50 opposition bills have been passed by the Dáil, but have gone nowhere since due to the use of money messages.

The Solidarity-People Before Profit motion aims to "remove the use of incidental expenses and indirect costs of implementing a Bill from the reasons that the Government can impose a 'money message'".

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl yesterday ruled the motion unconstitutional, which led to a row and brief suspension of the Dáil.

Solidarity-People Before Profit, meanwhile, claimed the decision to rule out of order the proposed motion was "an attack on the Dáil's independence and democracy itself".

Dun Laoghaire TD Richard Boyd Barrett claimed the situation around their motion was "unprecedented".

Reporting by Sean Defoe and Stephen McNeice
Main image: A general view of the exterior of the Four Courts in Dublin city centre, which houses the High Court and the Supreme Court and civil cases. Photo: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

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