Elaine Loughlin: As global crises unfold, Irish politicians remain stuck in petty disputes

Verona Murphy hasn’t exactly covered herself with glory since taking up the role of ceann comhairle.

However, this week, she would have had an easier time controlling a group of pre-schoolers in a toyshop than the adults occupying Leinster House.

As the play-doh politics continued in the Dáil on Thursday, the Taoiseach was waiting on the tarmac of Shannon Airport for the arrival of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Micheál Martin discussed a “sustainable and durable” peace settlement in Ukraine when Zelenskyy stopped off briefly on his way to the US for a crunch meeting with president Donald Trump.

The Taoiseach also outlined plans to directly fund meals for Ukrainian school children and robotic ground drones to assist with body recovery.

At the same time, across the Atlantic, British prime minister Keir Starmer was preparing to meet Trump — where the discussions later centred on increases in military spend and concessions on trade.

That day, controversial influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate — who are facing charges of human trafficking, sexual misconduct, money laundering, and of starting an organised crime group — were also winging their way across the Atlantic to Florida.

It had been reported that the Trump administration had lobbied Romania to ease restrictions on the brothers to allow them leave the country.

This all was happening less than 24 hours after Trump confirmed that he intends to impose 5% trade tariffs on the EU, on a move that could economically cripple this country which exports €72.6bn worth of goods and services to the US.

Since the speaking rights war first erupted in the Dáil on January 22, Trump has managed to dismantle USAid; propose a riviera-style development for Gaza; align with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and strong-arm Zelenskyy into accepting a minerals deal for Ukraine; enforce tariffs on aluminium and steel; and overall has threatened to upturn the international rules-based order.

He has also met with a growing list of world leaders, from Benjamin Netanyahu to Emmanuel Macron.

Like him or not, he is a leader who can enact dramatic change and at pace.

Here, our political system is stuck in a talking-shop quagmire.

On Thursday, those occupying the Dáil chamber were at it again.

Tánaiste Simon Harris accused opposition parties, which have united as one on this issue, of being “utterly childish” before jumping into the juvenile antics himself.

Sinn Féin’s Matt Carty said the Government is “so determined to protect its grubby deal with Michael Lowry that it would shred the core democratic functions of this parliament”, by ramming through changes to give speaking slots for the Regional Independent Group to question ministers and the Taoiseach.

Gary Gannon, of the Social Democrats, also got stuck in as the heckles and interruptions rose in the chamber.

“The game is up,” he declared, adding: “The pretence that this Government values cross-party collaboration has been clearly exposed as a sham.”

By the time Richard Boyd-Barrett entered the fray to hit out at the “arrogance” of Government, the discussion was becoming tedious.

The deadlock over speaking time and technical groups has had direct and real consequences on the ability of the Oireachtas to function as a legislative body.

What has now become a farcical stand-off, which the general public has long moved on from, has blocked the establishment of Oireachtas committees.

Bar a few exceptions, these committees generally get on with crucial work in a quiet unassuming manner and are tucked away in the basement of LH2000, an newer annex on the Leinster House campus.

The laborious task of scrutinising draft legislation, amending bills, and considering draft EU legislative proposals is carried out by these committees.

The work of government departments is also assessed, and ministers can appear before committees to answer questions concerning all policy, expenditure, and governance matters regarding their departments.

On occasion, the work of such committees does hit the headlines — the numerous sessions held by the media committee during the RTÉ controversy gained widespread public interest, for example.

The yet-to-be-established Public Accounts Committee has been called on to interrogate the Arts Council IT spend as well as the controversial purchase of a scanner by the National Gallery.

However, the speaking time row has put all of this work on hold.

Opposition parties have also vowed to further stymie the operation of the Dáil by refusing to provide members of the government pairings during voting blocs, a mechanism which usually allows ministers and the leaders to travel abroad for EU meetings and other official engagements while ballots are taking place.

One thing all in the chamber do agree on is that, as the Tánaiste put it, “the people of Ireland expect this place and the people who show up to do their work to start talking about the issues that matter to them and addressing issues around housing, special needs education, and disability”.

But with both sides continuing to dig in on what has become an intractable dispute, the do-nothing-Dáil fails to carry out its functions.