The Government had a comfortable four-vote majority when rejecting a Fine Gael move for an immediate holding of the three byelections in Dublin South, Waterford and Donegal South-West.
The Dáil vote remained the same when taken for each of the three byelections at 81 to 77, with Independent TD for Galway West Noel Grealish voting with the Opposition.
Labour education spokesman Ruairí Quinn honoured the pairing agreement to allow Tanaiste Mary Coughlan to travel to the US and abstained.
Government chief whip John Curran announced that the three byelections would be held “in the first quarter of 2011”. Mr Curran said they would take place between 18 and 25 days of the moving of the writ.
The Minister of State was the only member of the Government benches in the chamber for the 20 minute debate. He told the Opposition that “to divert attention and energy to the holding of the three by-elections could be detrimental to the health of our economy”.
He said politicians knew that electioneering was an “enormous and all-consuming effort” and that “to take our eye of the ball in terms of economic recovery to canvass and contest the elections would not be thanked by the people. Holding the by-elections may only serve to jeopardise economic recovery.”
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that by failing to hold the three byelections, the Government was running scared before the people and denying democracy not only to the people of the constituencies involved but also to people throughout the State.
“It is a double standard that offends the very nature of our Irishness, our Republic, our possession of our own democracy.’’
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said “it is simply not acceptable for vacancies in the membership of this House to be left unfilled for such a long period of time.’’
Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghin Ó Caolain accused the Government “of acting without a mandate and denying democracy to the people in three constituencies and to the people of the State as a whole".