A TD is seeking a High Court injunction to prevent super junior ministers attending Cabinet meetings.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has initiated proceedings against the Taoiseach, the Government of Ireland, and the Attorney General.
It has also emerged that former taoiseach Leo Varadkar could be called as a witness after he recently wrote in a newspaper that super juniors were “treated as equals, had a full set of advisers and brought their own memos for decisions”.
Mr Murphy said that Mr Varadkar’s comments “gave the game away”.
People Before Profit politician Paul Murphy holding a copy of the Constitution of Ireland (Brian Lawless/PA)
The super junior appointees in this Dail include Fianna Fail’s Mary Butler, Fine Gael’s Hildegarde Naughton and Regional Independents Group members Sean Canney and Noel Grealish.
The TD for Dublin South West has claimed in the plenary proceedings that the attendance of super junior ministers at Cabinet is inconsistent with the Constitution which states in Article 28 that the government “shall consist of not less than seven and not more than fifteen members”.
Mr Murphy said that he wants an injunction which prohibits junior ministers from attending Cabinet, a declaration that decisions made while they are attending Cabinet are not in line with the Constitution, and that extra allowances paid to the super junior are also unconstitutional.
Speaking to reporters at Leinster House on Wednesday, Mr Muprhy said: “Leo Varadkar gave the game away the week before last in the Sunday Times where he wrote openly about the addition of super juniors being to get around the rule of 15, and this speaks volumes about the approach of the government, which is to say, rules are not for us, they’re for you. We will simply try to get around those rules.
“We want to oppose the stroke politics of this government in every possible arena that we can and that’s why yesterday, I initiated a plenary action in the High Court seeking an injunction preventing these super juniors so-called from attending Cabinet meetings and seeking an end to the extra allowances that they are paid.
“We think it’s vital that we hold this government to account.
“If they want to bring in a constitutional amendment, absolutely fine, but then you have to bring in a constitutional amendment. You have to win a referendum to do that. You can’t simply just get around the rules.”
Fine Gael’s Hildegarde Naughton (centre) during a photocall with newly appointed Cabinet ministers (Brian Lawless/PA)
Mr Murphy’s case is separate to the one taken by Sinn Fein TD Pa Daly.
Mr Daly is seeking a judicial review of the decision to appoint super junior ministers.
Mr Murphy added: “If the court were to rule that super juniors cannot attend (Cabinet) anymore, it would create a real problem for this government and the deal they have with the (Michael) Lowry group.
“This is part of access to power, access to being a cabinet and so on. We think that is also crucial, because again, the Constitution is clear a maximum of 15 members of government, and they’re effectively acting as members of government.
“There’s effectively four things that we are seeking. One, an injunction preventing the junior ministers attending. Two, a declaration saying that decisions that are made while they are attending are not in line with the Constitution.
“Three, a declaration saying that the extra allowances they’re paid are unconstitutional, and four, a declaration that them attending Cabinet is unconstitutional.
“It is possible that we need to consider and discuss further with our lawyers, we may seek an interlocutory injunction, while we’re waiting for the substantive hearing, which would then mean you’re discussing that, in particular, in advance of the rest of it, but that’s something we’ll consider and probably decide on.”