Court dismisses challenges on 'super junior' ministers

Two Opposition TDs have lost their High Court challenge to the attendance of junior ministers at Cabinet meetings.

Sinn Féin's Pa Daly and People Before Profit TD, Paul Murphy had claimed only Government ministers could attend Cabinet meetings and the attendance of others breached Cabinet confidentiality.

But a three-judge division of the High Court ruled there was no breach of the Constitution and dismissed both cases.

Mr Daly and Mr Murphy took separate cases dealing with the same issue.

They claimed the Constitution limited the Government to the 15 full cabinet ministers appointed by the President, and the participation of others in meetings was not permissible.

Mr Murphy was seeking injunctions to stop the attendance of the junior ministers at Cabinet. Mr Daly also challenged the legislation permitting an allowance to be paid to junior ministers for their attendance.

The State argued other people could attend Cabinet meetings at the invitation of the Taoiseach, that junior ministers do not make Government decisions and that there was no breach of the Constitution.

The three judges analysed the evidence in the two cases and came to the same conclusion. They found that only the 15 people appointed by the President are members of the Government.

They said the four 'super junior’ ministers nominated by the Taoiseach in January 2025 were not members of the Government and had no decision-making role.

The court found that while they may be delegated duties in relation to a Department of State, the responsibility for each Government Department always remains with the Minister.

The judges said they were satisfied there was no constitutional provision, express or implied, which limited the attendance at meetings of the Government to the 15 ministers.

They said the Constitution was not breached by the attendance of the relevant Ministers of State.

They said they did not consider their attendance invalidated any decision taken at a Cabinet meeting.

The judges also ruled that the obligation to respect Cabinet confidentiality under the Constitution applied to everyone attending such a meeting and was not restricted to the 15 Cabinet ministers.

The matter will be mentioned in court again next month.

Mr Daly and Mr Murphy said they would consider the court's lengthy judgments over Christmas before deciding on whether or not to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the party had to seek clarity on the question - and she said it remained their firm position that no body in political life should have the opportunity to play fast and loose with the Constitution to secure the political outcomes they desired.

She said it mattered that there was good governance and proper standards and she said they would consider the judgments very carefully.

Mr Murphy said it was a very important case. He said the central issue was whether the Constitution could be "got around" as successive governments had been doing by appointing super junior ministers.

He said this was taken to extremes by the current Government to do what he called a "political stroke" to facilitate the "Lowry group".

Mr Murphy said the struggle to stop "the political chicanery and grubby deals" connected to this Government and Michael Lowry would continue.

He said they had an important decision to make over Christmas about a possible appeal.