The 34th Dáil is underway this morning, with a selection of new TDs taking their seats for the first time after being elected last month. All eyes are on who will take the role of Ceann Comhairle, the chairperson of Dáil Éireann who will be elected by TDs through a secret ballot vote during today’s first session.
It is the second highest paid job in Irish politics after the President, with the person who fills the position receiving a €255,000 salary – more than double the €113,679 basic salary of a TD.
The Ceann Comhaire’s pay is over €27,000 more than the Tánaiste’s salary and exceeds the wages of a government minister by more than €43,000, according to department figures.
In addition to this, the Ceann Comhairle is entitled to certain allowances and expenses related to their role, such as a travel and accommodation allowance.
The Oireachtas says that salary levels for the job are set by the Department of Public Expenditure and that the Ceann Comhairle had no role in the setting of the pay scales concerned.
Independent TD Verona Murphy is tipped to be in poll position for the role of Ceann Comhairle, and if she gets the job, she will be the first female to do so. She is in the running alongside three other politicians. The candidates include two-term Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, a Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare South first elected to the Dáil in 2002.
His entering into the race has surprised many; in an interview with the Irish Times earlier this year, he said he would not be seeking another term and that he hoped a woman or younger person would get the job. However, the 64-year-old has said he will not seek a full term if he is elected. He was elected on the first count in 2020, and served as the Dáil’s 19th chair. He will be hoping the affable manner he brought to the job and his popularity will be enough to get him elected this time around.
Fellow veteran Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny John McGuinness, first elected to the Dáil in 1997 – is also making a bid to be the head of the Irish Parliament. Sinn Féin’s nominee is Dublin South Central TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh who has been a TD since 2002.
In comparison, Verona Murphy, a Wexford Independent who has been nominated by the Rural Independent Group, was first elected in 2020, has only served one term in the Dáil. The former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association is an outspoken Deputy who started off her political career in Fine Gael. However, she was deselected by the party in 2019 after she supported Noel Grealish’s attempts to block a direct provision centre in Oughterard, Galway. Murphy said that some immigrants coming to Ireland were being infiltrated by ISIS and would “need to be deprogrammed.”
“I believe there are issues with the direct provision, and I believe that the people of Oughterard were absolutely justified because they hadn’t been given enough information,” she said.
“There people are coming from such war-torn countries that they have to be deprogrammed, for the want of a better word, but through support services.
“They carry angst that you wouldn’t ordinarily see, possibly infiltrated by ISIS, and we have to protect ourselves against that.”
Murphy later apologised for her “poor choice of words.”
Since being elected, the outspoken Wexford Deputy has been prominent for persistently criticised planning issues regarding IPAS centres including in Rosslare, and called for a referendum on the EU Migration Pact. Ms Murphy’s nomination for the position has sparked debate, with some TDs having expressed concerns about her ability to fulfil the impartial duties required by the position.
The Ceann Comhairle is expected to observe strict impartiality and does not take part in debates. Nor do they vote, except in the event of a tie, in which event they generally vote in accordance with the parliamentary conventions relating to the Speaker of the British House of Commons, which tend to mean voting against motions.
While the Ceann Comhairle is by tradition precluded from active participation in politics, they remain free to make representations on behalf of constituents.
The Ceann Comhairle formally opens each day’s sitting by reading the official prayer. As head of the lower house, the Ceann Comhairle is the sole judge of order in the house.
If selected for the prestigious role, Verona Murphy would not have to run for a second Dáil term because the Constitution recognises this unique role and provides for the automatic re-election of an outgoing Ceann Comhairle who wishes to be a Member of the incoming Dáil.
Alongside having a large body of staff, the Ceann Comhairle undergoes numerous foreign trips, which are paid for by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.
Fianna Fáil TDs look set to back Independent Verona Murphy in her bid to be the next Ceann Comhairle after the proposal secured approval from Tánaiste and party leader Micheál Martin. Simon Harris and Fine Gael are also now backing calls for her to take the job, however it remains to be seen if she will be victorious predominantly because of the presence of sitting chair Ó Fearghaíl.
If all 48 Fianna Fáil TDs, 38 Fine Gael TDs and the nine Independents support Ms Murphy’s candidature, she will have secured a comfortable majority.