FINE GAEL has backed down from an initial declaration that it would refuse Taoiseach Brian Cowen a Dáil pairing arrangement to attend the eighth Asia-Europe summit meeting in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday next.
Reflecting the party’s tougher approach to parliamentary cooperation, a Fine Gael spokesman had said pairs would only be granted for meetings of the EU Council of Ministers, North-South ministerial meetings and, on a case-by-case basis, where deputies were suffering from illness.
When it was put to him that the Taoiseach would be attending the Asia-Europe summit and would need to request a pair, the spokesman had said it was “not a Council of Ministers meeting” and a pair would therefore not be granted.
He can be comfortably back in the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon," the Fine Gael spokesman had earlier told The Irish Times.Government sources had said Mr Cowen would "probably" apply in the normal way this Friday for a pairing arrangement whereby a Fine Gael deputy would stand down for any votes taken in the Taoiseach's absence.
However the Fine Gael spokesman contacted this newspaper, after the front page had been shown on television late last night and he had received a query about the matter from RTÉ, to say that he had not understood the meeting was of such high status and a pair would not be refused after all.
Held every two years the Asia-Europe summit is a gathering of heads of state or government from the European Union and 16 Asian countries and is being hosted on this occasion by Belgium’s King Albert II.
Russia, Australia and New Zealand are attending for the first time. Mr Cowen attended and spoke at the last Asem summit, held in Beijing.
The Dáil returns tomorrow after the summer recess and if the Taoiseach had to return in time to take parliamentary questions next Tuesday he would miss a reception hosted by the Belgian monarch as well as a working lunch and the summit’s closing ceremony.
The earlier refusal by Fine Gael to facilitate Tánaiste and Minister for Education Mary Coughlan’s trade mission to the United States has opened a bitter rift between the two main Opposition parties, with Fine Gael claiming that Labour could go into government with Fianna Fáil.
The Tánaiste is due to fly to Chicago today to join the Enterprise Ireland mission aimed at boosting the level of attendance by US students at third-level institutions here, which currently has an estimated value of €900 million to the economy.
This follows an arrangement with the Labour Party, which will stand down one of its TDs in any Dáil votes that take place in her absence this week. The pairing arrangement was brokered by Labour education spokesman Ruairí Quinn, following Fine Gael’s refusal to facilitate Ms Coughlan’s US visit.
Accusing her of “running scared” from answering parliamentary questions tomorrow on the State training agency Fás, Fine Gael said she could have attended the Dáil and joined the education trade mission later in the week.Fine Gael’s education spokesman, Fergus O’Dowd, said: “I’m very surprised that Labour have manoeuvred, or been manoeuvred, into a position of letting Fianna Fáil off the hook in the Dáil this week. It is clear to me now that the only party guaranteed not to do a deal with Fianna Fáil is Fine Gael.”
The Taoiseach is expected to refer to the controversy this morning when he launches a five-year plan entitled Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy, to be implemented by a new Foreign Trade Council, comprising relevant departments and agencies. The council will be charged with generating up to 300,000 jobs through linking exports and inward investment with overseas promotional activities in other sectors such as tourism, culture, sport, agriculture and food, and education and skills.
Responding to Fine Gael criticisms, Mr Quinn stressed that it was “a one-off arrangement” and that Labour remained “absolutely committed to earliest possible removal of Fianna Fáil from office”.
“The Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan TD, telephoned me this evening and briefed me on her proposed visit,” he said. Having discussed the matter with party leader Eamon Gilmore and Labour whip Emmet Stagg, it was agreed “on this occasion” to facilitate the Tánaiste.
The Government’s majority is looking increasingly fragile, with dissident sentiments having been expressed by former Progressive Democrats TD Noel Grealish and Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, who lost the Fianna Fáil whip before the summer.