Cabinet ministers are on alert for an election after being asked to “clear the decks” in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s budget.
In what is seen as a highly unusual move, the Department of Public Expenditure has asked a number of departments to submit supplementary estimates for the year, a move usually reserved for November.
Cabinet sources told the that the move was “an accelerated clearing of the decks” and something that ministers “had been watching for”.
Last year, agreement on the supplementary estimates did not come until late November, albeit with the budget two weeks later than this year.
A senior minister said that the ask coming this early “could only mean one thing” — that Taoiseach Simon Harris is clearing the way to be able to call an election.
A minister said that the estimates were one of three major aspects of passing the budget along with the Social Welfare and Finance Bills. It is understood that the Taoiseach has not asked Finance Minister Jack Chambers to expedite the Finance Bill.
That bill will be brought to Cabinet on Tuesday, though there has been no indication of when it will come to the Dáil.
The ask is seen as a “significant move” and “clearing the decks” by a number of ministers who say that it indicates an election is coming before the end of next month.
A Cabinet source said that the supplementary estimates are important because they fund a range of government departments and agencies above what they had been budgeted. The estimates are brought to Oireachtas committees and passed by the Dáil. Without them, various agencies could run out of funding which would necessitate the recalling of the Dáil before a government has been formed.
Mr Harris downplayed the idea of an imminent election, saying he wanted the Government to “finish its work”.
“The Constitution doesn’t ask that I provide hourly updates to the media on my thinking,” he said.
“There’s no mention of that in Bunreacht na hÉireann.
Speaking on RTÉ’s , Tánaiste Micheál Martin once again restated his desire for an election in February.
Government sources said that Mr Martin’s desire for a February election is genuine, but that he and Mr Harris have yet to discuss the matter.
