THE chaos in the Dail this week brought Irish “politics into disrepute”, Simon Harris has claimed.
And the Tanaiste last night vowed to back under-fire Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy.
The Ceann Comhairle will next week face a motion of no confidence over her handling of the raucous Dail row over speaking rights.
On Tuesday, the Government forced through a vote to change the rules of the Dail to give more speaking time to Government backing TDs such as Michael Lowry.
Opposition TDs are furious with how the Ceann Comhairle forced through the vote as they accused her of colluding with the Government to push through the issue.
Verona Murphy has refuted the claims and has vowed to face down the no confidence motion when the opposition parties table it next week.
Government parties have promised to back the Ceann Comhairle in the row and vote to keep her in the vital Dail position.
Simon Harris yesterday blasted the “aggressive behaviour” of opposition TDs who shouted down the Ceann Comhairle during Tuesday’s Dail bust up.
The Tanaiste has promised to rally his Fine Gael TDs to vote down the no confidence motion against the Ceann Comhairle.
He said: “The scenes across Tuesday and Wednesday bring politics into disrepute.
“The aggressive behaviour towards the Ceann Comhairle is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
“Refusing to respect the Chair of the Dail or the outcome of a vote in the Dail is not how our democracy works.
“This has gone on too long. The people deserve better.
“Fine Gael will vote confidence in the Ceann Comhairle to uphold her duties in a fair and impartial manner without fear or favour.”
The Dail was amicable yesterday as business continued as usual without issue.
Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy was in buoyant mood and even joked with a Sinn Fein TD about his party’s shouting protest on Tuesday.
During a debate on legislation to change the widow’s pension, Sinn Fein’s Ruairi O’Murchu paused before his speech and told the Ceann Comhairle: “I’m just waiting for the microphone to turn on.”
The underfire Ceann then replied: “You didn’t need a microphone the other day.”
This brought laughter from across the Dail with Deputy O’Murchu joking in response: “That’s a disgraceful thing to say.”
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald yesterday said that the opposition is not considering ramping up the Dail speaking rights row by bringing a court challenge.
An Oireachtas report found that the Ceann Comhairle acted in order with standard procedure during the Dail chaos.
However, Deputy McDonald claims that a vote on the Order of Business was never called and believes that the video footage of the Dail dust up contradicts the Oireachtas report into the matter.