By Elaine Loughlin Irishexaminer.com
With just a week and a half left until the D谩il rises for the summer, members accept that both parties 鈥 despite being in government together for the previous five years 鈥 have yet to fully settle in and bed down.
This has been noted not just at senior level, but right the way down the ranks.
Relationships between ministers and their junior counterparts are still very much in the 鈥榖uilding鈥 phase.
The departure of several long-serving political advisers at election time means the cogs that keep both sides informed in the background are not yet fully turning.
One adviser, who has served for multiple ministers, noted that while there was always a healthy level of caution between those working for Fianna F谩il ministers and those serving Fine Gael politicians in the last coalition, both sides knew each other for a considerable period and could casually pick up the phone to one another.
With a raft of new appointments, advisers have been getting to grips with their own departments and the workings of Government Buildings, cross-party co-operation is therefore down the list of priorities.
Student fees exposed deeper issues
While political spats nearly always have an element of the contrived about them, the student fees issue has brought up some deeper issues between Fianna F谩il and Fine Gael, which were papered over in the last coalition.
The Independents in government have taken up a largely 鈥榮ilent partner鈥 role this time around, and without the mudguard of the Green Party, an easy target in the last administration, the two Civil War parties no longer have a mutual enemy and are now eyeing each other with increasing distrust.
Fine Gael members feel aggrieved, with one senator this week raising what has been perceived as Fianna F谩il鈥檚 unfair treatment of Helen McEntee when she held the justice portfolio.
On the other side of the fence, senior Fianna F谩il sources have pointed out that Fine Gael has been strongly 鈥渕arking鈥 a number of Fianna F谩il-held portfolios, such as justice.
One minister vented frustration around the level of lobbying and querying from Fine Gael advisers to department officials, suggesting that Simon Harris should be picking up the phone to the line minister instead of using sneaky backchannels.
As the third-level row refused to settle down, Fianna F谩il members claim Harris has been overly fixated on his former department.
‘He is not the minister anymore’
鈥淗e is not the minister any more,鈥 one senior Fianna F谩il source said after the T谩naiste first briefed a private meeting of his party 10 days ago on the student fees issue.
Referencing the fact that he brought down fees during his time as higher education minister, Harris outlined a number of budget priorities to the Fine Gael parliamentary party, including measures to reduce the cost of third-level education that would include student fees.
Privately, it sparked almost immediate fury within the ranks of Fianna F谩il, with one senior member suggesting to the Irish Examiner that the T谩naiste was 鈥渟etting a trap鈥 for the current higher education minister as previous cuts to student fees came out of a cost-of-living pot which will not be possible as part of this autumn鈥檚 budget.
‘It’s him [James Lawless] that’s the problem’
The Budget 2026 spat fully erupted when James Lawless took to the airwaves last weekend, stating that student fees, which were reduced by 鈧1,000 over the past three years, will return to 鈧3,000 as the budget will not contain a cost-of-living package.
鈥淭he shite that he has landed us in over this,鈥 one Fine Gael minister said of last Sunday鈥檚 RT脡 radio interview and a further appearance on Drivetime the following day.
鈥淗e rang into a radio station. I鈥檝e never heard anything like it. It鈥檚 him that鈥檚 the problem, it was a non-issue before he went on radio.鈥
In a voice note sent to Fine Gael politicians, Harris also took a direct swipe at Lawless, claiming that the programme for government clearly commits to reducing fees 鈥渙n a permanent basis鈥. Fianna F谩il countered by stressing that a clause at the end of that sentence only promises to bring down fees in 鈥渁 financially sustainable manner鈥.
Opposition make hay with Coalition tensions
Members of the opposition have made hay on the Coalition tensions, pressing every minister who entered the D谩il chamber this week for a definite answer on fees, none of whom were able to provide absolute clarity.
As the debate rumbled on, the Taoiseach was again questioned on the matter in Japan yesterday.
Without referring to anyone by name, Mr Martin said:
Certainly, I think people perhaps could have paused and reflected, maybe before hitting out, but that鈥檚 politics.
Opening up another budget fissure, Martin then moved to dismiss proposals for a two-tier system of welfare that would see those on unemployment benefits receive a lower increase than other social welfare recipients.
It came just days after the T谩naiste said there is 鈥渕erit鈥 in unemployment benefit not rising at the same rate as other social welfare payments, such as pensions.
Having differences of opinion in any coalition is not necessarily a negative, nor does it signal an immediate election, as long as both sides can constructively work to find consensus.
But this Coalition now finds itself in a particular space. It can allow the drift to continue with tit-for-tat counter-briefings and bitching which will eventually render it nonfunctional. Or both sides can consciously decide to end the sniping and make this Government work.