How Powerful Is the Taoiseach Within the Irish Political...

How Powerful Is The Taoiseach Within The Irish Political System? The Taoiseach is potentially very powerful indeed. The constitution of Ireland gives the Taoiseach extensive powers. He* also has extensive powers within the administration of the government and powers within his political party. The constitution gives the Taoiseach the power to nominate all the Government ministers, eleven members of the Seanad and the attorney general (he also has the power to fire any of the ministers whenever he wants). The constitution also gives him the power to call an election whenever he wants. In practice he sets the agenda of cabinet meetings and the order of government business within the Dail each day. Along with these extensive powers he†¦show more content†¦Lemass was of the opinion that if a minister disagreed with him on a matter of policy he had to go (Chubb, 1992:187). In a coalition situation the Taoiseach’s choice is limited further by the deals made with his coalition partner. This usually entails the leader of the coalition par ty getting the post of Tanaiste and a number of ministry’s given to that party also. In a coalition situation the Taoiseach’s power to fire ministers is tempered by his coalition partners. They may not agree to the firing of a party colleague and therefore collapse the government. His power to nominate eleven members of the Seanad is generally used to ensure a majority in the Seanad. In 1997 Bertie Ahern used this power, having only 23 of the 49 elected seats, to gain a 32 to 28 majority for the coalition government in the Seanad. (Elgie, 1999:239). His coalition partners the Progressive Democrats however made sure they were not all Fine Fail members. The one power that cannot really be tempered by a coalition government is the power to call an Election. The Taoiseach usually sets an election date at a time favorable to his position. If the government are doing particularly well in the polls and he reckons his number of seats may improve he can call an election. The co alition partners cannot really affect this power if the Taoiseach reckons he can gain a majority in the Dail post election. In setting the agenda for cabinet meetings theShow MoreRelatedThe Impact of Eu on the Irish Legal System2622 Words   |  11 PagesSecondary Legislation 3.1 Regulations 4 3.2 Directives 4 3.3 Decisions 5 3.4 Recommendations, Opinions and Resolutions 5 Section 4 Crotty v. An Taoiseach - A Landmark Case. 7 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 Section 1 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this report is to highlight how European Law has affected the Irish Legal System and the extent to which these laws are binding in Ireland. Ireland began negotiations to join the European Union (EU) in 1972. For this to happen a referendumRead MoreCultural Analysis For Doing Business8067 Words   |  33 Pagesdoing Business in Ireland. This paper will answer four main questions, while adding additional information and insight to the nation of Ireland. Among reading this paper, the reader should be able to understand Ireland’s culture, how people in Ireland conduct business, how U.S. and Ireland compare in business, and the implications for U.S. businesses that wish to conduct business in Ireland. These research questions were tackled using scholarly articles found through the Internet and Liberty OnlineRead MoreThe History of Language is a Story of Possesssion and Dispossession2043 Words   |  8 Pagescontrasts within English in general. A great deal of these attributes demonstrate the interacting impact of colonization from Scotland and England, giving rise to components from British dialects, in addition to components now deemed to be no longer in use in British English and the shift of components from the Irish language. In association with the linguistic results of language contact being predictable from patterns of social interaction between speakers of different languages, Irish and English