THE THREE Opposition whips have taken the unusual step of writing a joint letter to Government chief whip Paul Kehoe stating their opposition to his proposed reforms of Oireachtas committees.
Last Thursday in the Dáil Mr Kehoe gave an outline of reforms for the revised committee structures that would result in a halving of the number of committees and a reduction in membership of some key committees. In addition, he indicated to the Opposition that they would be entitled to the chair of only three of the 15 committees.
Later that evening the three Opposition whips – Seán Ó Feargháil (FF), Aengus Ó Snodaigh (SF) and Catherine Murphy of the technical group – drafted the letter. It said if its concerns were not addressed, the Opposition would not co-operate in establishing committees.
The letter seeks four main amendments to the proposals:
* It seeks more Opposition chairs, especially on select committees;
* It argues that the Good Friday Implementation Committee be chaired by a Government deputy because of its international importance;
* It calls for more equality of membership on the Public Accounts Committee;
* It also calls for the size of the key Finance and Public Expenditure Committee to be increased to 21, with nine Opposition members.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny will announce details of the revised committee structure later this week. A source said the Opposition would be offered the chairs of three of the most powerful committees: the Public Accounts Committee; the new Investigations and Oversight Committee; and the Dáil’s Committee of Members’ Interests.