Two challenges to the attendance of so-called “super junior” ministers at Cabinet meetings will be heard by the Supreme Court.
Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly and People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy lost separate High Court challenge seeking to ban the practice in March.
Both said on Sunday that the Supreme Court last week agreed to hear the appeal of the cases, clearing the way for the highest court in the State to hear arguments on the matter.
Daly said his solicitor had informed him that it had been decided that the case raises sufficiently important and novel constitutional questions to justify a full appeal to the Supreme Court.
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Murphy told The Irish Times that he was happy leave to appeal the decision had been granted.
The High Court actions challenging the practice were taken on different grounds last year, but in both instances the case was decided in favour of the Government.
“Super junior” ministers attend meetings at Cabinet, but are not full members of Government. Critics have said the practice violates constitutional requirements for Cabinet confidentiality.
The pair brought separate but similar challenges arguing that Article 28 of the Constitution limits the number of Government members to 15 and that the attendance of super junior ministers at Cabinet meetings goes against this.
Super junior ministers do not get a vote at Cabinet, although in practice matters are effectively never subject to a vote of Government ministers as a Taoiseach unable to command the unanimous support of their Cabinet would be seriously undermined.
In a statement released on Sunday, Daly welcomed the decision and charged that the appointment of four super juniors by the Taoiseach was “part of the secret back room deal with Michael Lowry”, the Independent TD for Tipperary North who convened a group of unaligned deputies to support the Government – although he does not hold ministerial rank himself.
Daly said: “A culture has developed in which constitutional boundaries can be bent through back room deals, at the cost of public trust in politics and the weakening of our democratic institutions.”
Murphy said: “I remain convinced that the existence of super junior positions is a breach of the Constitution designed to facilitate political strokes with the likes of Michael Lowry. I look forward to the Supreme Court making a final ruling.”
Both Daly and Murphy were awarded half of the legal costs incurred in their unsuccessful actions in what the court said was “one of the rare and exceptional circumstances” where losing litigants should be awarded some of their legal costs.
The judges hearing the case said there was “real substance” to the deputies’ cases, noting a public interest in clarifying the issues raised in the cases.
“The principal judgments brought clarification to what, in our view, was an issue of fundamental importance and on which there were diverging academic views,” the judges said.
