Toole teams up withDáil technical group
Newly elected Meath East TD Gillian Toole says he has joined a Dail technical group to give her a greater voice in Leinster House.
The ‘Regional Technical Group’ consists of 10 TDs, with eight Independents having agreed to register as a technical group earlier this week. Technical groups are typically formed to increase speaking time for its members in the Dáil.
The eight Independents are Seán Canney, Marian Harkin, Barry Heneghan, Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, Verona Murphy and Gillian Toole. Aontú Leader Peadar Toibin and party colleague Paul Lawless TD also joined the group.
Toole made history earlier this month by becoming Meath's first Independent TD receiving an impressive 4,459 first preference votes.
Speaking on becoming a member of the Regional Technical Group, she said: "I like the work ethic of the group members and I think it is a very fair geographical distribution of independents around the country. We have a lot of common ground, the five key issues that I would be concerned about, housing, healthcare, education, public transport and community safety would be concerns of theirs as well.
"If I'm not a member of a group, there are no speaking rights. As I have suggestions to put forward across different areas, I didn't want to go and sit on my hands!"
"There’s a pecking order in that the government speaks first, then the parties, but as an independent voice you don't have that right. You don't have an input and you can't ask questions other than submitting parliamentary questions, unless you are part of a group."
Toole describes signing the Dáil register as a new TD was "a proud moment" and says she is now focused on the task ahead and tying up loose ends regarding her role as a councillor.
"Our induction is Tuesday 17th December, when we have a full day of training in Leinster House but I have been kept busy taking down posters and trying to tidy up flyers, checking representations from residents. I'm also preparing for a meeting with Dublin Airport Authority with Ashbourne and Ratoath councillors on Thursday morning."