James Reilly | |
---|---|
Senator | |
In office 8 June 2016 –29 June 2020 | |
Constituency | Nominated by the Taoiseach |
Deputy leader of the Fine Gael | |
In office 1 July 2010 –16 May 2017 | |
Leader | Enda Kenny |
Preceded by | Richard Bruton |
Succeeded by | Simon Coveney |
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs | |
In office 11 July 2014 –6 May 2016 | |
Taoiseach | Enda Kenny |
Preceded by | Charles Flanagan |
Succeeded by | Katherine Zappone |
Minister for Health | |
In office 9 March 2011 –11 July 2014 | |
Taoiseach | Enda Kenny |
Preceded by | Mary Coughlan |
Succeeded by | Leo Varadkar |
Teachta Dála | |
In office May 2007 – February 2016 | |
Constituency | Dublin North |
Personal details | |
Born | Lusk,Dublin,Ireland | 16 August 1955
Political party | Fine Gael |
Spouse | Dorothy Reilly |
Children | 5 |
Alma mater | Royal College of Surgeons |
James Reilly (born 16 August 1955) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician,businessman and medical doctor [1] who served as a Senator from May 2016 to March 2020. [2] He previously served as Acting Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from February to May 2016,Minister for Health from March 2011 to July 2014 and deputy leader of Fine Gael from 2010 to 2017. [3] He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency from 2007 to 2016. [4] He subsequently announced his retirement from politics after he lost his bid for election for his old seat at the 2020 general election.
Reilly graduated with a medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1979 and is a qualified General Practitioner. [5] Reilly was president of the Irish Medical Organisation prior to his election. He was appointed as party spokesperson on Health in 2007 and promoted to deputy leader in a reshuffle on 1 July 2010. [6]
He has worked as a GP in the North County Dublin area for the past 25 years,with surgeries formerly in Lusk and Donabate. Reilly currently has a surgery in Lusk.
For his first official trip as Health Minister,Reilly embarked on an expedition to China. [7] His second official trip was for a meeting on non-communicable diseases in New York City from 17 to 20 September 2011. [7]
He conceded for the first time on 17 January 2012 that budget cuts he was implementing would affect frontline health services. [8]
His predecessor,Mary Coughlan,referred to the number of patients on trolleys as a "national emergency". [9] Shortly before becoming Minister for Health the number of patients on trolleys reached a new record high of 569. On taking office,James Reilly vowed that "never again" would we see 569 patients on trolleys. [10] The number of patients waiting on trolleys dipped for a time following his appointment as Minister for Health,but grew again before he left office. [11]
Reilly instructed his department to start collating an outpatient waiting list for the first time,which,when it was first published in March 2013 showed over 100,000 patients waiting over a year. Thousands of them were waiting over four years. By December 2013,this waiting list had been reduced by 95 percent. The number of patients waiting over 8 months for an inpatient or daycase procedure has now been reduced by 99%. [12] [13] [14] [15]
In July 2012,Reilly was named on a debt defaulters' list as owing a debt of €1.9 million together with four others on foot of a judgment which had been registered in the High Court. [16] [17] [18] The dispute was eventually settled with the nursing home at the centre of the dispute sold. [19]
Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin tabled a motion of no confidence in Reilly on 3 September 2012 after more cuts in the health service. [20] He says the search for savings would focus on tackling "inefficiencies and waste",such as excessive sick leave and overtime. [21] The Labour junior minister Róisín Shortall addressed the Dáil during this motion and did not indicate her support for him or mention his name once,though she did not vote against the motion. [22] Reilly won the vote of no confidence by 99 to 49. [23] On 26 September 2012,Shortall resigned as Minister of State for Primary Care and her party whip,citing lack of support and the lack of an explanation from Reilly as to what criteria were used to select an extra 15 sites for primary care centres,including the placement of two such centres in Reilly's own constituency. [24]
Just two weeks after the motion of no confidence,Reilly unilaterally cut Irish consultants salary. [25] Compared to salaries from 2008,the cut represents over a 40% drop, [26] the largest cut in the public sector. Controversially,this salary cut applied to not only new consultant contracts but also to existing consultants who moved to take up a similar position in a different hospital. Since this pay cut there has been difficulty in recruiting consultants with several posts receiving no applicants. [27] While under questions from the Oireachtas,Minister Reilly downplayed the recruitment problems and stated "there is not the great crisis chaos that the Irish Hospital Consultants Association would like to paint". [28] Two days following this the Minister stated "it was never my intention that somebody who has spent 10 years working as a cardiologist...would be expected to return here and commence work at the starting point on the salary scale,that,clearly,does not make sense". [29]
Reilly was moved to the position of Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in a cabinet reshuffle in July 2014. [30] He retained responsibility for Public Health and anti-smoking policy.
In this role he faced controversy over the Catholic church's constitutional right to give preference in admission at church controlled schools to baptized Catholic children. Virtually all of Ireland's state-funded primary schools (97%) are under church control. Irish law allows schools under church control to consider religion the main factor in admissions. Oversubscribed schools often choose to admit Catholics over non-Catholics,a situation that has created difficulty for non-Catholic families. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva asked Reilly to explain the continuation of preferential access to state-funded schools on the basis of religion. He said that the laws probably needed to change,but noted it may take a referendum because the Irish constitution gives protections to religious institutions. The issue is most problematic in the Dublin area. A petition initiated by a Dublin attorney,Paddy Monahan,received almost 20,000 signatures in favor of overturning the preference given to Catholic children. An advocacy group,Education Equality,planned a legal challenge. [31]
Reilly lost his seat at the 2016 general election. [4] He retained his position as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs until talks on government formation had concluded and his successor,Katherine Zappone,was appointed. [32] He was the Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Jobs,Enterprise and Innovation in the 25th Seanad.
At a meeting of Fine Gael ministers in November 2015,James Reilly reportedly 'faced down' then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny,demanding a referendum on Ireland's abortion laws. He reportedly told the Taoiseach repeatedly:"I said it,I believe it and I'll say it again." [33] He took a swipe again at the Taoiseach when he told a group of young voters to "never stand back because others try to shut you down".
Kenny's Fine Gael-led minority government took office after the 2016 election with a programme which promised a randomly selected Citizens' Assembly to report on possible changes to the Eighth Amendment,which would be considered by an Oireachtas committee,to whose report the government would respond officially in debates in both houses of the Oireachtas. Leo Varadkar replaced Enda Kenny as Taoiseach on 14 June 2017 and promised to hold a referendum on abortion in 2018. [34]
Reilly has called the tobacco industry “evil”, [35] claimed that they “target our children” [36] and declared “war”on them. [37] Both his father and brother died from smoking related illnesses. [38] He received cabinet approval to aim to make Ireland a tobacco free country –defined as a smoking rate below 5% - by 2025. [39] Ireland became the second country in the world to commit to introducing plain tobacco packaging. [40] He has taken a defiant attitude to threats of legal action from the tobacco industry. [41] During the Irish Presidency of the European Union,Reilly prioritised the Tobacco Products Directive. He secured the agreement of the European Council within just six months. Health Commissioner Tonio Borg praised his ability in securing this agreement. [42] [43] When the Tobacco Directive's future became doubtful because of tobacco industry lobbying in the European Parliament,Reilly arranged for letters supporting the directive to be sent to MEPs from himself,the Taoiseach,16 European Health ministers and the World Health Organisation. [44] [45] [46] In an unusual move in Irish politics,Reilly accepted a Bill proposed by independent Senators which aims to ban smoking in cars where children are present. [47]
He unsuccessfully contested the Dublin Fingal by-election in November 2019,but was eliminated before the final count,and was not elected. [48] [49] He stood again for Fine Gael in Dublin Fingal at the 2020 general election and was defeated again,winning only 5.2% of the first-preference votes. [50] [51] Shortly after his third defeat,Reilly announced his retirement from politics. [50] [52]
Fine Gael is a centre-right,liberal-conservative,Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a membership of 25,000 in 2021. Simon Harris succeeded Leo Varadkar as party leader on 24 March 2024.
Enda Kenny is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017,Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017,Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017,Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2011,Minister for Tourism and Trade from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Labour and Department of Education with responsibility for Youth Affairs from 1986 to 1987. He served as Teachta Dála (TD) for Mayo West from 1975 to 1997 and for Mayo from 1997 to 2020.
Richard Bruton is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin Bay North from 2016 to 2024,and previously from 1982 to 2016 for the Dublin North-Central constituency. He was the Chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party from July 2020 to September 2023. He previously served as Minister for Communications,Climate Action and Environment from 2018 to 2020,Minister for Education and Skills from 2016 to 2018,Minister for Jobs,Enterprise and Innovation from 2011 to 2016,Deputy leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2010,Minister for Enterprise and Employment from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State for Energy Affairs from 1986 to 1987. He was a Senator for the Agricultural Panel from 1981 to 1982.
The Leader of the Opposition in Ireland is a de facto term sometimes used to describe the politician who leads the largest party in the parliamentary opposition in Dáil Éireann,the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. In the Dáil,the leader of the opposition sits on the right-hand side of the Ceann Comhairle and directly opposite the Taoiseach. The role is not an official one and is not recognised in the Irish constitution,nor in legislation.
Frances Fitzgerald is a former Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Tánaiste from 2016 to 2017,Minister for Business,Enterprise and Innovation from June 2017 to November 2017,Minister for Justice and Equality from 2014 to 2016,Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from 2011 to 2014,and Leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad from 2007 to 2011. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin constituency from 2019 to 2024 and a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2002 and 2011 to 2019. She was also a Senator for the Labour Panel from 2007 to 2011.
The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments,commonly known as the Mahon Tribunal after the name of its last chairman,was a public inquiry in Ireland established by Dáil Éireann in 1997 to investigate allegations of corrupt payments to politicians regarding political decisions. It mostly investigated planning permissions and land rezoning issues in the 1990s in the Dublin County Council area. Judge Alan Mahon was the final chair of the tribunal and its other members were Judge Mary Faherty and Judge Gerald Keys. The original chairman,who was the sole member until just before his retirement,was Judge Feargus Flood,giving rise to the original common name of the Flood Tribunal.
Leo Eric Varadkar is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024,as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022,and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A TD for the Dublin West constituency from 2007 to 2024,he held a range of other ministerial positions during his time in government. Described as centre-right economically,he advocated free markets,lower taxes,and welfare reform. On social issues,he supported successful constitutional referendums to legalise same-sex marriage and to liberalise Ireland's abortion laws.
Thomas Byrne is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and solicitor who has served as a Minister of State since July 2020. He has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Meath East from 2007 to 2011,and subsequently since 2016. From 2011 to 2016,he was a senator on the Cultural and Educational Panel.
Darragh O'Brien is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister for Housing,Local Government and Heritage since June 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Fingal constituency since the 2016 general election,and previously from 2007 to 2011 for the Dublin North constituency. He previously served as a Senator for the Labour Panel from 2011 to 2016.
Fine Gael is a political party in Ireland,formed in 1933 as a merger of Cumann na nGaedheal,the National Centre Party,and the Blueshirts.
LGBTQ+ life on the island of Ireland is made up of persons who are lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,or otherwise.
Simon Harris is an Irish Fine Gael politician serving as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011,he served as a minister of state from 2014 to 2016 and as a minister since 2016.
The 2016 Irish general election to the 32nd Dáil was held on Friday 26 February,following the dissolution of the 31st Dáil by President Michael D. Higgins on 3 February,at the request of Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The general election took place in 40 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland to elect to elect 158 TeachtaíDála to Dáil Éireann,the house of representatives of the Oireachtas. There was a reduction of eight seats under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2013. Fine Gael were returned to government as a minority administration.
Alan Farrell is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a member of Seanad Éireann since December 2024. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency from 2011 to 2016 and for the Dublin Fingal constituency from 2016 until he lost his seat in 2024. He was chair of the Committee on Children and Youth Affairs from 2016 to 2020.
Regina Doherty is an Irish Fine Gael politician who is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Dublin constituency since the 2024 European Parliament election. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath East constituency from 2011 to 2020. She was the Leader of Fine Gael in the Seanad from 2020 to 2024,serving as leader of the Seanad from 2020 to 2022 and Deputy leader of the Seanad from 2022 to 2024. She served as Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection from 2017 to 2020 and Government Chief Whip from 2016 to 2017.
Brendan Griffin is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry constituency from 2016 to 2024,and from 2011 to 2016 for the Kerry South constituency. He served as Deputy Government chief whip from July 2020 to December 2022 and as Minister of State for Tourism and Sport from 2017 to 2020.
Louise O'Reilly is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Fingal West constituency since the 2024 general election,and previously for Dublin Fingal from 2016 to 2024.
The 2017 Fine Gael leadership election was triggered in May 2017,when Enda Kenny resigned as leader of Fine Gael. Voting began by members of Fine Gael and Young Fine Gael on 29 May 2017. On 2 June Leo Varadkar was announced as the victor,beating rival Simon Coveney. With Fine Gael being the governing party at the time,this election effectively selected a new Taoiseach for Ireland.
Joe O'Brien is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as a Minister of State since July 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Fingal constituency from 2019 to 2024.
Emer Currie is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency since the 2024 general election. She previously served as a Senator from 2020 to 2024,after being nominated by the Taoiseach.