Politics watch: Health overspend, Defence Forces conditions, Garda row
James Cox
Here, we have a look at what to expect on the political agenda in the next week, with plenty of talking points besides the obvious one of Budget 2024.
Health overspend
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said the overrun in expenditure within his department could have an effect on “new developments” within the upcoming budget.
The Minister acknowledged there was a “material overrun” in health expenditure, which is reportedly projected to reach €1 billion by the end of the year.
This is likely to cause issues in the final Budget 2024 negotiations ahead of October 10th.
Defence Forces
The Defence Forces played a crucial role in the operation targeting a cargo ship off the Irish coast with a record drug haul of €157 million worth of cocaine.
Members of the highly trained Army Ranger Wing (ARW) descended by fast-rope from a helicopter on to the MV Matthew as it tried to sail out of Irish waters and evade capture.
The elite unit boarded the ship after the Irish Naval Service’s patrol vessel, the LE William Butler Yeats, fired warning shots in its direction after it failed to obey orders.
The underfunding of the Defence Forces is likely to be a topic of Dáil conversation once again in light of this.
The Commission on the Defence Forces has recommended reforms, which the Government is working to implement. However, critics have claimed the pace is too slow.
Speaking during the week, Independent TD and former deputy commander of the ARW Cathal Berry said: "This really is an operation of international significance.
"It won't have gone unnoticed in South America and Latin America as well. The cartels will see this, and they will modify their approach to Ireland, but it won't stop them because it's well known at this stage that Irish territorial waters are notoriously unprotected, and they'll just tweak their procedures.
"But they'll continue as before."
Temple Street scandal
Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) has said it has no record of receiving a letter that is purported to have been sent to its CEO about the use of non-medical grade devices in paediatric surgery.
It comes after Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said she had shared a letter she received with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, which “seems to confirm” that meetings involving Children’s Health Ireland on the matters date back to 2020.
The fallout from the Temple Street scandal will continue to feature in Dáil debate.
Garda roster row
Rank-and-file gardaí have threatened to withdraw their labour if a deepening row over rosters is not resolved.
The proposed move is one of a series of steps agreed by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in response to the dispute with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris over the reimplementation of a pre-Covid roster system.
Some TDs have said politicians should stay out of the garda row. However, this will not be practical if it continues to go on.
Abroad
Politicis in the UK continues to be directed towards the next general election, which is due to take place no later than January 2025.
However, Rishi Sunak's government is likely to call the election in 2024. And with that in mind, Conservatives gather in Manchester from Sunday to set out their stall. Amongst the hot topics will be tax policy, environmental policy and the ongoing debate over how to handle asylum seekers.
The latest debate surrounds asylum seekers with the Conservative government taking a hardline approach.
At a speech in Washington DC during the week, UK home secretary Suella Braverman said asylum seekers pretend to be gay to “game the system” and to get “special treatment”.
In the US, a government shutdown was averted at the last minute on Sunday as Democrats and Republicans reached a finely balanced deal.
The package drops aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of Republican politicians, but increases federal disaster assistance by $16 billion, meeting president Joe Biden’s full request.
The bill funds the US government until November 17th.