Labour prepared for U-turn on Dail deal

Labour is prepared to do a U-turn in the new Dáil session on its deal with the Government which restricts the Taoiseach's attendance in the House to two sitting days a week. Michael O'Regan, Parliamentary Reporter, reports.

The party's chief whip, Mr Emmet Stagg, said yesterday that Labour would support a Fine Gael motion calling on Mr Ahern to attend the House on all sitting days, if it is moved in the session which begins next week. "We now believe that the Taoiseach should attend the House when it sits," he said.

The Government-Labour deal was made in September 2002, shortly before Mr Pat Rabbitte took over party leadership from Mr Ruairí Quinn. The controversial issue has surfaced again with the change in Dáil arithmetic following the decision by the Independent Wexford TD, Dr Liam Twomey, to join Fine Gael. While his move has not prompted Labour to seek to reverse its deal, it has brought the issue into focus once again, as the Dáil grouping of which Dr Twomey was a member no longer has more Dáil seats than Labour.

Dr Twomey was a member of the "technical group", comprised of the Green Party, Sinn Féin and a number of Independents. This group had 22 deputies, compared to Labour's 21, when the new Dáil took over following the 2002 general election.

This meant the group took precedence over Labour in Dáil business, and led to a deal between the Government and Labour to change standing orders and give Labour precedence. In return, Labour agreed that the Taoiseach should only attend the House during the Tuesday and Wednesday sittings.

Dr Twomey's move to Fine Gael means Labour and the technical group now have an equal number of seats - 21 each. On this basis Labour, as a party rather than a grouping, could hope to have preferential treatment on Dáil business.

The Fine Gael parliamentary party is divided on whether the motion should be moved, given the inevitable embarrassment that the U-turn on the issue would cause to Labour.

The motion has been on the Dáil's order paper for some months.

The technical group's chief whip, Mr Tony Gregory, Independent TD for Dublin Central, said that in striking the deal with the Government, Labour had capitulated for no good reason.

"It was embarrassing for the party, given that it was shouting about issues and demanding accountability from the Taoiseach," Mr Gregory said.