General election should be held on November 29, says Green Party leader
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The general election should be held on November 29, Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman has said.
Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Dublin that it was his preference to hold the election before Christmas.
“I think the 29th is the date to go.”
Mr O’Gorman said people are getting tired of the “will they, won’t they” speculation over recent weeks.
“Probably now’s the time to give some degree of certainty to the Irish people in terms of the election date,” Mr O’Gorman said.
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“I’ll be meeting with the two coalition leaders on Monday. What I’ll be saying to them is that I think we need to give clarity and I’ll be saying my preference is for a November election — 29th November.”
This is the first time that any of the three coalition leaders has named a specific date for the election to take place.
The comments come as the Tánaiste this week opened the door for a pre-Christmas election, but he said that key legislation must be passed.
Government sources have said that Finance Minister Jack Chambers has not yet been asked to accelerate the passage of the finance bill, which was debated in the Dáil on Wednesday.
If Taoiseach Simon Harris opts not to guillotine that bill before next Wednesday's Dáil voting bloc, it would go to the Oireachtas finance committee on November 5 as planned.
Coalition sources have said, however, that it is possible that Mr Harris will dissolve the Dáil on November 7, paving the way for an election on November 29.
Mr O’Gorman said a November 29 election would give the government the opportunity to pass the final pieces of legislation, including the Maternity Protection Bill and hate crime laws.
“Then obviously we’ve the finance act. I think there’s a little bit more work on that but I think we can get those done over the next three weeks, a dissolution in early November and my view is an election on the 29th.”
He said there needed to be “real clarity” provided to the public about any intention to call an election before Christmas.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to thank us for knocking on their doors in the run-up to Christmas,” he added.
Speaking in Cork on Friday, Mr Martin said there will be clarity on the date of the general election within the next week.
“I would agree that there's a need for clarity at this stage [on the election date],” the Tánaiste said.
“But I think that this is something that we can deal with next week. I'm not going to get into specific dates.
“I believe there will be clarity this [next] week. So take it handy, I think things will emerge.”
Mr Martin, who was speaking following a meeting in Cork with Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan, said the Finance Bill's incompletion was now the “only issue” he saw blocking the election.
“To me, the Finance Bill is key and that puts flesh on the bone of the budget. The bottom line here is you either have it [the general election] at the end of November or the beginning of December. Because the Finance Bill will dictate that timeline. Or you do it in February.
“We have to have it before March, the constitution lays that down.
“If we get the key legislation done, which is important, then the difference between December and February isn't huge, so I never got overly excited about that.
“I always said ideally February would have been the conclusion.
“It's always been my view in terms of when a government is elected, I always believe a government should go full term, because that's just a general philosophy I have about continuity and stability. Government gets a chance to do things. Short-termism happens when you have elections every two or three years.”
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, who will sign the writ for the election, said that he would be guided by discussions from the three party leaders around the length of the campaign.
He declined to speculate on a date however, saying it was above his “pay grade”.
“We’re focused on the work we need to do in the next couple of weeks but there’s significant pieces of work, as Roderic has outlined there already.
“Look, everyone knows that an election’s within a matter of weeks or months anyway.”