Fianna Fáil say Micheál Martin should be Taoiseach for three years of a new coalition
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Fianna Fáil is to press Fine Gael for Micheál Martin to get three years in the Taoiseach’s office, as preparations for coalition talks get underway.
Senior Fianna Fáil sources have said a rotating taoiseach agreement is on the cards for a coalition deal, but that it would not be an even split as had previously been agreed in 2020.
One party source said it “can’t be anything less than three years” for Mr Martin in the Taoiseach’s office, citing the 10-seat difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
“There will be an element of generosity there,” another senior source said, in providing a rotating taoiseach agreement.
“If the number of seats doesn’t mean anything, then what’s the point?” asked another Fianna Fáil source:
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One Fine Gael source said the rotating Taoiseach arrangement is “very important for parity of esteem”.
Fianna Fáil is also expected to press for additional seats at the Cabinet table, with one minister suggesting that it could be as many as nine for their party compared to six for Fine Gael.
However, multiple sources suggested that an 8-7 split would be more workable.
There is an acknowledgement within '>Fine Gael that the party will not get as many Cabinet ministers, with one incoming TD saying that it was “obvious”.
“It wouldn’t be something that stopped government formation,” a senior TD said.
Fianna Fáil sources also indicated that there are no “dealbreakers” for the party, but have said they want to retain the housing portfolio while also taking on justice.
However, one senior Fianna Fáil minister said Fine Gael’s proposed ‘acorn’ savings scheme is dead, and described it as “nonsense”.
The scheme itself would see the government provide between €1,000 and €1,500 into an acorn savings account for newborns. Parents would be able to top it up by up to €2,000 a year, with 4% interest rates.
“I don’t think that’s a runner at all,” the source said, adding that it would disproportionately benefit the well off.
Some in Fianna Fáil are wary of speaking about government jobs, instead saying that it is more important that a common policy platform is established between themselves and Fine Gael.
This is also being pressed by Fine Gael, saying that the discussion on portfolios is some way off.
“Our priority has to be getting a good bit of our manifesto into the programme for government,” one incoming TD said.
The Fine Gael source said the focus on ministries and the Taoiseach’s office is “a media creation” but accepted that it would become a real consideration when talks begin in earnest.
Both parties are due to hold meetings of their new parliamentary parties today, but no formal discussions between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have taken place as yet.
However, with both Mr Martin and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris due to travel to Edinburgh on Friday for a meeting of the British-Irish Council, some discussions between the two leaders could take place on the margins of the summit.
Possible sticking points for the two parties include issues around Fine Gael’s proposed new Department of Infrastructure, which Mr Martin has repeatedly criticised.
He described the proposal as being “half-baked”, with the party preferring to cut red tape within the Department of Public Expenditure to allow for projects to speed up.
For Fine Gael, Mr Harris has also voiced his concerns about Fianna Fáil’s proposals to decriminalise cannabis for personal use.
Speaking in the days before the election, Mr Harris indicated that it would be a red line for Fine Gael and said that his position was where “a lot of people in Ireland’s position is”.
“This is a complex issue, but I do stop at the health-led approach to addiction rather than going to the next level,” he said.
“I certainly wouldn’t be able to commit to a programme for government to decriminalisation, because I’m not there in my own mind.”
In particular, he has criticised the proposal as bringing about a “normalisation of drugs”.