Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald leaving the High Court in Dublin last year with Paul Murphy (left) and Pa Daly following their challenge over the attendance of super junior ministers at Cabinet meetings. Photograph: Collins CourtsTwo TDs have argued they are entitled to legal costs incurred in an unsuccessful High Court challenge to the constitutionality of “super junior” ministers’ attending Government meetings. The deputies brought separate but similar challenges arguing article 28 of Bunreacht na hÉireann limits the number of Government members to 15 and that the attendance of super junior ministers at Cabinet meetings goes against this. Ministers of State attending Cabinet (or super junior ministers) are appointed by the Government on the nomination of the Taoiseach. The authorities point to cases when an order for legal costs should not be awarded against an unsuccessful litigant, and when an unsuccessful litigant should be awarded their legal costs.

Source: The Irish Times February 19, 2026 00:24 UTC