TDs who are members of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have declared their non-cooperation with an incoming Sinn Féin chairman until party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, publicly addresses the current scandals surrounding her party. This stance follows the resignation of Brian Stanley from Sinn Féin, who has been appointed the PAC chair by Dáil Éireann through the d’Hondt system, a system that yields committee chairs in accordance with each party’s Dáil Chamber representation. His successor is poised to be named soon.
Objections to the new Sinn Féin leadership have been raised by Ciaran Cannon from Fine Gael and James O’Connor from Fianna Fáil, both refusing to cooperate with the new chairman. They demand answers regarding Stanley’s resignation and an unresolved scandal in Northern Ireland concerning the employment references of a former Sinn Féin press officer, convicted of child molestation.
In addition, Marc Ó Cathasaigh, a Green Party whip and a member of the PAC, has suggested that Catherine Murphy, the current deputy chair and a Social Democrats TD, should temporarily take the reins. He commends Murphy’s performance and experience in the committee. Nonetheless, he expressed neutrality towards possible collaboration with a new Sinn Féin committee chair, indicating a lack of adequate information to form an opinion.
The decision to designate a committee chair typically rests within the purview of each political party. However, Dáil’s standing rules allow for the election of a new chair from the committee members if the appointed chair is unavoidably absent. An insider suggested that this rule might pose issues, given that members of the PAC have pre-emptively voiced their potential reluctance to back a chair from Sinn Féin.