The leaders of the Coalition parties came to a mutual consensus on Monday evening about the inevitability of the general election occurring in this year, though the specific date could not be discerned nor could they decide when the election would be announced. While Simon Harris, the current Taoiseach, expressed his desire for the election to happen on a Friday, this wasn’t officially agreed upon by the rest of the leaders.
Full details of the Monday evening convergence were kept under wraps, particularly after Roderic O’Gorman, leader of the Green Party, suggested a 29th November election date, instigating substantial indignation within both the ranks of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. A succinct three-sentence statement was circulated post-meeting, highlighting that the leaders had settled on the year 2024 for the general election, prioritising the passage of the Finance Bill and the committee stage commencement of said bill on the 5th of November.
It’s been recurrently emphasised by Mr Harris to his governmental colleagues that instigating a dissolution of the Dáil and stimulating an election falls within his authority, however, finalising the precise date and determining the length of the campaign are duties to be performed by the Housing and Local Government Minister, Darragh O’Brien from Fianna Fáil.
The intricate sequence of these proceedings were supposed to be debated and agreed by all three leaders on Monday, although this has not occurred to date. Several pieces of legislation, including the Occupied Territories Bill, Defamation Bill, and Mental Health Bill, are not likely to be completed and thus their progress will be subject to the new government’s discretion. However, certain mandatory Bills including the Appropriation Bill and another pertaining to expenditure on the Oireachtas will need to be finalised prior to the election’s announcement.
Finance Minister Jack Chambers, on Monday, spoke about hastening the procedure for the Finance Bill passing through the Oireachtas. This is to ensure that the bill is green-lighted prior to the elections. Post a week-long break due to the midway term, the Bill is expected to go back to Oireachtas. The government would then likely aim to settle all outstanding points so that it can be authorised by the Dáil within the week. This might possibly pave the way for the election to be announced just as soon as that week.
Initially, it would have taken until late November or early December to successfully pass through all the stages. This plan however, emphatically won’t take place, as explicitly put by Chambers while addressing journalists in Dublin.
Chambers, who simultaneously serves as the director of elections for Fianna Fáil, informed that each one of the three ruling parties will submit their separate manifestos and there won’t be any election deals.
The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste Micheál Martin expressed a similar view at two distinct events on Monday, but both anticipated that the electorate might interchange between the ruling parties.