Fine Gael TD criticises Enda Kenny for creating ‘jobs for the boys’

A Fine Gael TD has strongly criticised Taoiseach Enda Kenny for increasing the number of Ministers of State, saying she was "deeply suspicious" of why the roles were created.

Kate O’Connell, a newly elected Deputy for Dublin Bay South, said she did not see any need for increasing the number of Ministers of State from 15 to 18.

Asked about how female TDs had fared during the formation of the Government, she said: “I don’t know if there was jobs for the girls, but there seems to be plenty of jobs for the boys.”

Ms O'Connell was speaking on Inside Politics, the weekly political podcast by The Irish Times.

"I didn't see the need for the extra junior Ministers myself and was deeply suspicious as to why they were created," she told presenter Hugh Linehan.

“With all of those positions comes an extra burden to the State - €30,000 in the case of junior ministers. It’s not a charitable gig you put yourself out for.”

‘Exceptions to openness’

On the private deal between Mr Kenny and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin – reserving three of the Taoiseach's 11 nominees to the Seanad for the main Opposition parties – Ms O'Connell said it did not do very much for the culture of openness in politics. "There are exceptions to openness, whenever it suits."

Fiona O'Loughlin, also a new Deputy representing Kildare South, was the other guest on the podcast. The Fianna Fáil TD agreed there was no need for an increase in minister of state positions and said it was a mistake not to include the environment or certain aspects of the arts in the designations.

On the issue of the 8th amendment to the Constitution on abortion, Ms O’Loughlin said the debate on the issue was welcome as there had been no mature debate since 1983.

She said Fianna Fáil had agreed to a free vote on the matter, as had Fine Gael. She expressed a nuanced personal view on the issues: "It is incumbent on us to protect the most vulnerable, including the unborn. We still have to absolutely look at women's health issues and take our head out from the sands in the number of women travelling in real crisis situations over to England. "

Ms O’Connell said many of her colleagues in Fine Gael were “allergic” to the issue of the 8th amendment and did not want to engage. “For me, it’s well documented that I take a liberal approach on this issue, and I constantly go back to the consequence of the law as it stands.

“There are people in our country who are in an awful crisis situation and are being forced, nine or 10 a day, to travel abroad. Nobody wants to be in that situation. It’s a very difficult situation to be in.”

Foetal abnormality

Ms O’Connell disclosed she was confronted with this issue when she became pregnant with her first child and discovered a foetal abnormality. “I came across this for the first time when I was 30 and my first child had a foetal abnormality.

“I was faced with perhaps having had to make that decision. I had never even thought about it [until then], it was not even on my radar. If I was walking down the street and somebody asked me, I would have probably said I am very pro-life.

“I think it’s the job of legislators to make the laws for the people, all the people. Many vulnerable people find themselves in a situation where they have to travel abroad and it’s a very unpleasant situation.”

Ms O’Connell said the time had come “for the lads to take their heads out of the sand and get on with it”.

“My mother had six children, and she never had an ultrasound. The diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality is a modern phenomenon. This is a situation that women of her generation did not have to deal with. Science has moved on and we have to move on with it.”