Paudie Coffey

2014–2016

• Waterford Institute of Technology
• University College Dublin

Paudie Coffey
Minister of State		Environment, Community and Local Government

Paudie Coffey (born 15 May 1969) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Minister of State from 2014 to 2016. He served as a Senator from 2016 to 2020, after being nominated by the Taoiseach, and previously from 2007 to 2011 for the Industrial and Commercial Panel. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford constituency from 2011 to 2016. ^[1]

Political career

He was first elected to Waterford County Council in 1999 for the Suir local electoral area, and re-elected in 2004. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 2007 general election for the Waterford constituency, but was subsequently elected to Seanad Éireann in July 2007 as a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel. ^[2]

Coffey was elected for the Waterford constituency at the 2011 general election gaining 9,698 (18.1%) first preference votes and was subsequently elected. ^[2] On 15 July 2014, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with responsibility for Housing, Planning and Co-ordination of the Construction 2020 Strategy. ^[3] He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. ^{[2] [4]}

Coffey was instrumental in the introduction of the Construction Contracts Act 2013. The Act regularises payment terms between construction companies, and puts in place a dispute resolution process aimed at reducing days lost and costs on construction projects.

He was nominated by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the 25th Seanad in May 2016. ^[5]

Kilkenny People court case

Coffey alleged he was defamed by the Kilkenny People newspaper on 15 January 2016. He was nicknamed 'Coffey the Robber' after the newspaper published an article containing a press release by Carlow-Kilkenny Fine Gael TD John Paul Phelan. The comparison was based on William Crotty, who was an 18th-century criminal known as Crotty the Robber. ^[6] Coffey settled out of court on 31 July 2019. ^[7]

Retirement

On 16 December 2019, he announced that he was retiring from politics and would not contest the next general election. ^[8]

References

1. "Paudie Coffey". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
2. "Paudie Coffey". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
3. "Simon Harris among new Ministers of State". RTÉ News . 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
4. McGrath, Meadhbh (6 May 2016). "Revealed: The salaries TDs pocketed over 10 weeks of government talks". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
5. Bardon, Sarah (27 May 2016). "FF leader selects three of Taoiseach's 11 Seanad appointees". The Irish Times . Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
6. "Fine Gael TD was surprised by 'Coffey the Robber' headline on article". The Irish Times. 30 November 2010. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
7. "Fine Gael Senator Paudie Coffey settles 'highway robber' defamation case". Irish Independent. 31 July 2019. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
8. "FG's Paudie Coffey will not contest general election". RTÉ News. 16 December 2019. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.