The High Court has begun hearing a constitutional challenge against the attendance and participation of so called “Super Junior” ministers at government meetings.
The challenge was brought by Kerry Sinn Féin TD, Pa Daly, who claims the practice of appointing such Ministers of State is “deeply problematic and unconstitutional.”
On the opening day of this hearing, counsel for Deputy Daly argued the Irish Constitution doesn’t provide for what he labelled as “add-ons.”
He said Super Juniors don’t have an office and are paid an allowance for a function that is inconsistent with the constitution.
Article 28 of the Irish Constitution specifies that the Government shall consist of no less than seven and no more than fifteen members.
Over the past few decades, so-called Super-Junior Ministers have been allowed to attend meetings of government, and the issue for the court to decide here is whether their attendance and participation in meetings around the formulation of government policy is constitutional.
Lawyers for Deputy Daly, say it is not.
Four Super Juniors were appointed to cabinet in this Government – Fine Gael’s Hildegarde Naughton, Fianna Fáil’s Mary Butler and two members of the Michael Lowry Regional Independents Group: Seán Canney and Noel Grealish.
The hearing continues in the High Court.
