What is a Technical Group? •
It is Parliamentary grouping of Independent TDs and any parties that have less than 7 members. This grouping allows for improved access to speaking time etc.
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The Technical Group requires a majority of the eligible Deputies to be formed. In the case of this Dáil the number eligible is 19, therefore a minimum of 10 was required to establish the Technical Group
What does the Technical Group do? •
The Technical Group DOES confer increased access to Speaking rights within the Dáil
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The Technical Group DOES coordinate speaking time amongst its members to ensure the efficacy of the Dáil schedule
What does the Technical Group NOT do? •
The Technical group DOES NOT operate as a political party
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The Technical group DOES NOT operate a Whip system for voting purposes etc.
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The Technical Group DOES NOT control membership of the group – all non-aligned or small parties are automatically eligible to join the Technical Group and nobody within the group can veto their inclusion or indeed expel anyone from the group.
Who is eligible to join the Technical Group? •
Any person who was elected to the Dáil in the last general Election as an INDEPENDENT candidate or any party with less than 7 elected Deputies is automatically eligible to join the Technical group.
Who is NOT eligible to join the Technical group? •
Any person who came into the Dáil at the last General Election, or subsequent By-Election as a party member (of a party with more than 7 members) is ineligible to join the Technical group.
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Even if a party deputy leaves or is expelled from their party during the Dáil term, they are still not eligible to join the Technical Group. Under the current standing orders – your status as a TD on the day you are elected remains your status until the date of the next General Election regardless of what transpires in between.
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You cannot be considered non-aligned at any stage during the course of the Dáil if you were elected to that Dáil as a member of a party.
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If you come into the Dáil as a Fine Gael deputy, for example, then you are simply not eligible to join the Technical Group at any stage during the life of that Dáil
What does non-aligned mean? •
A non-aligned TD is anybody who was elected in the last general election as an INDEPENDENT candidate or a member of a party with less than 7 members.
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You are NOT considered to be non-aligned if you were elected, at the last General Election, as a party member ( for a party with more than 7 members) and have since left that party or been removed from that party.
What if the Technical Group wants to expel a member? •
The Group has no control over membership, anybody who is eligible to join the group can do so at any stage, can leave at any stage, and come back if they so desire. There are no limits on membership once the initial eligibility criteria is satisfied i.e. a non-aligned TD or a small party of less than 7 members.
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In the current Dáil there are 19 members eligible to join the Technical Group. Of these 19, 3 have abstained from joining (Noel Grealish, Michael Healy Rae and Michael Lowry )
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The other 16 eligible members ( Luke Ming Flanagan, Shane Ross, Mick Wallace, Tom Flemming, Thomas Pringle, Mattie Mc Grath, Clare Daly, Joe Higgins, Stephen Donnelly, Maureen O’ Sullivan, John Halligan and Catherine Murphy) have all participated and continue to participate in the current Technical Group.
What if a TD who has left their party wants to join the Technical Group? •
They simply cannot. Under the current Standing orders they are considered ineligible to join the Technical Group as their status cannot change from aligned (to a party) to non-aligned until the Dáil dissolves.
What are Standing Orders? •
The Irish Constitution (Article 15.10) sets out the requirement for Standing Orders :
“Each House shall make its own rules and standing orders, with power to attach penalties for their infringement, and shall have power to ensure freedom of debate, to protect its official documents and the private papers of its members, and to protect itself and its members against any person or persons interfering with, molesting or attempting to corrupt its members in the exercise of their duties.” •
Standing Orders have been interpreted over the years and continue to be subject to interpretation.
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Technically it is the Dáil that has responsibility for amending Standing Orders but in reality it is the Government that controls the agenda because it controls the numbers and thus the interpretation of the Standing Orders is at the discretion of the Government.
What if a party TD leaves their party and decides to form a new group or a new party? •
Any new grouping or party formed will not be recognised under the Standing Orders.
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Any entity represented in the House must have been in existence at the time of the last General Election with the exception of the Technical Group – of which there is only one allowed under the standing orders.
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If Deputies were to form a new party, that party would not be recognised under the standing orders for the purposes of speaking time, committee memberships, resources etc. Their new party affiliation would not be recognised for Dáil purposes until they run in a General Election under the new banner and are elected (with more than 7 members) under the new banner.
If the Standing Orders are not amended how will any new grouping or party get speaking time? •
They will be forced to seek any spare time that the Technical group or other parties may be willing to give to them.
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On occasion the Technical Group and other parties will have some time allocated to them that is not required by anybody within their fold and as such this spare time may be offered to those deputies who are outside the party or Technical Group structure.
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Any speaking time they manage to obtain will be solely at the goodwill of other parties or the technical Group. This goodwill will be their only mechanism for obtaining occasional speaking rights.
Has the Technical Group sought to change the standing orders? •
Yes, on a number of occasions. The Technical group is based on the principle of Parliamentary Democracy and believes that everyone elected should be allowed a voice to represent the constituents who elected them.
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There has been on-going attempts by the Technical Group to amend standing orders but to date even the most modest of suggestions have been rejected.
Why is the system so obtuse? •
It must be remembered that the current standing orders were written by parties for the benefit of parties. Every aspect of the current system is designed to favour the party model of politics.
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Ironically, the Constitution makes no mention at all of the phrase ‘parties’:
Article 40.6.iii : the right of the citizens to form associations and unions.
Article 40.6.2 : Laws regulating the manner in which the right of forming associations and unions and the right of free assembly may be exercised shall contain no political, religious or class discrimination