
Sinn Féin TD John Brady to chair Public Accounts Committee
The committee, also known as PAC, is charged with ensuring that public services are run efficiently and offer value for money.
Advertisement
In the last Dáil, the party had hailed Mairead Farrell, the Galway West TD, as the first female chair of PAC after Brian Stanley resigned from Sinn Féin.
Ms Farrell is to chair the Oireachtas Committee on Finance.
Asked on Friday why Sinn Féin had taken Ms Farrell out of the PAC position, party TD Eoin O Broin told reporters that she had been given an 'even more significant role' in terms of her frontbench spokeswoman role for public expenditure, infrastructure, public service reform and digitalisation.
Galway TD Mairead Farrell (Niall Carson/PA)
He said party leader Mary Lou McDonald had made a 'really good selection' and added: 'We've appointed a significant number of women and women of real stature to committee positions.'
Advertisement
On the other seven Oireachtas committees chaired by Sinn Féin, Matt Carthy is at the helm of the Committee on Justice, Home Affairs & Migration, Maurice Quinlivan is chairing the Committee on Disability Matters, and Rose Conway Walsh is chairing the Defence Committee.
Conor McGuinness is chairing the Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Committee, while Louise O'Reilly is taking the Petitions Committee.
The sharing of 28 Oireachtas committee chair roles between Dáil groupings is based on the general election results.
The individuals appointed to chair committees receive an annual allowance bonus of 10,888 euros.
Advertisement
This week, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris announced their parties' TDs who will chair committees.
Fianna Fail TDs are chairing eight committees while Fine Gael TDs are at the helm of seven.
For Fianna Fail, John Lahart takes the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, Sean Fleming will chair the new Infrastructure Committee and James O'Connor will be at the helm of the Committee on Enterprise.
Cathal Crowe is chairing the Committee on Education, while Erin McGreehan is chairing the Committee on Further and Higher Education.
Advertisement
Cormac Devlin is taking the Committee on Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, Aindrias Moynihan is taking the Committee on Agriculture and Malcolm Byrne is chairing the Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
For Fine Gael, the Housing Committee will be chaired by Micheal Carrigy and Barry Ward will chair the Committee on European Affairs.
Ireland
Man (30s) arrested after burglary from jewellery s...
Read More
New Fine Gael TDs have also been given roles: Naoise O Muiri is the chair of the Climate Committee, Keira Keogh will chair the Committee on Children & Equality, Michael Murphy will chair the Committee on Transport, while John Paul O'Shea is chairing the Committee on Social Protection.
For the Social Democrats, Padraig Rice is to chair the Health Committee and Gary Gannon will chair the Committee on Drug Use.
Advertisement
Labour's Alan Kelly is to chair the Media Committee, and Independent Galway TD Catherine Connolly is to chair the committee on behalf of the Independents and Smaller Parties technical group.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Business news live: FTSE 100 stock markets updates and latest UK jobs data
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.


Glasgow Times
18 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
I do not think McGregor is fit to be president of Ireland, minister says
Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien compared MMA fighter McGregor, 37, to Ireland's outgoing president Michael D Higgins, who is a former arts minister and sociology lecturer. Mr O'Brien said McGregor was free to challenge the process to get on the presidential ballot paper but that the Irish constitution was 'clear'. He was responding to comments from McGregor to The Sunday Times where he said he is considering a legal challenge to the eligibility rules for the presidential elections. To become a candidate, a person must be nominated by either 20 members of the Irish parliament or four local authorities. They also must be an Irish citizen who is 35 or older. An election for the largely ceremonial role is expected towards the end of October, as it must take place in the 60 days before outgoing President Michael D Higgins' term ends on November 11. So far, two candidates have secured sufficient nominations to get on the ballot: former farming journalist and EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness, who is the Fine Gael nominee; and Catherine Connolly, a left-wing independent and former Galway mayor who has received the backing of opposition parties and independents. Several figures have said they intend to seek the nominations needed to get on the ballot, including Riverdance star Michael Flatley, millionaire entrepreneur Gareth Sheridan, and previous presidential candidate Peter Casey, as well as McGregor. President of Ireland Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina outside Aras an Uachtarain, Dublin, the official residence of the President of Ireland (Gareth Chaney/PA) Asked about McGregor's intention to legally challenge process to be nominated as a presidential candidate, Mr O'Brien said he was within his right to take a case but did not believe he would be nominated. 'Like any citizen, he's entitled to take a case should he wish, but the constitution is clear on that, the nomination process is clear,' the Fianna Fail TD said. 'I don't envisage he'll be nominated to run for president. But look, I think it's open to any citizen to take a challenge, should they wish. 'The office of Uachtaran na hEireann is the highest office in the land. 'It's a critically important office. If you look at the work that Michael D Higgins has done over the last 14 years and representing our country abroad with such distinction, I would just ask people to draw the comparison to what our president has done, and what someone like Conor McGregor might do. 'So I don't think he would be fit to hold that office.' Last month, McGregor has lost his appeal against a civil jury's finding in favour of Dublin woman Nikita Hand, who accused him of rape. Ms Hand, 35, successfully sued McGregor in a civil court over an incident in which he was alleged to have 'brutally raped and battered' her in a penthouse at a south Dublin hotel in December 2018. Ms Hand was awarded almost 250,000 euro in damages and McGregor was also ordered to pay about 1.3 million euro in legal costs following the November trial.

Leader Live
19 hours ago
- Leader Live
I do not think McGregor is fit to be president of Ireland, minister says
Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien compared MMA fighter McGregor, 37, to Ireland's outgoing president Michael D Higgins, who is a former arts minister and sociology lecturer. Mr O'Brien said McGregor was free to challenge the process to get on the presidential ballot paper but that the Irish constitution was 'clear'. He was responding to comments from McGregor to The Sunday Times where he said he is considering a legal challenge to the eligibility rules for the presidential elections. To become a candidate, a person must be nominated by either 20 members of the Irish parliament or four local authorities. They also must be an Irish citizen who is 35 or older. An election for the largely ceremonial role is expected towards the end of October, as it must take place in the 60 days before outgoing President Michael D Higgins' term ends on November 11. So far, two candidates have secured sufficient nominations to get on the ballot: former farming journalist and EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness, who is the Fine Gael nominee; and Catherine Connolly, a left-wing independent and former Galway mayor who has received the backing of opposition parties and independents. Several figures have said they intend to seek the nominations needed to get on the ballot, including Riverdance star Michael Flatley, millionaire entrepreneur Gareth Sheridan, and previous presidential candidate Peter Casey, as well as McGregor. Asked about McGregor's intention to legally challenge process to be nominated as a presidential candidate, Mr O'Brien said he was within his right to take a case but did not believe he would be nominated. 'Like any citizen, he's entitled to take a case should he wish, but the constitution is clear on that, the nomination process is clear,' the Fianna Fail TD said. 'I don't envisage he'll be nominated to run for president. But look, I think it's open to any citizen to take a challenge, should they wish. 'The office of Uachtaran na hEireann is the highest office in the land. 'It's a critically important office. If you look at the work that Michael D Higgins has done over the last 14 years and representing our country abroad with such distinction, I would just ask people to draw the comparison to what our president has done, and what someone like Conor McGregor might do. 'So I don't think he would be fit to hold that office.' Last month, McGregor has lost his appeal against a civil jury's finding in favour of Dublin woman Nikita Hand, who accused him of rape. Ms Hand, 35, successfully sued McGregor in a civil court over an incident in which he was alleged to have 'brutally raped and battered' her in a penthouse at a south Dublin hotel in December 2018. Ms Hand was awarded almost 250,000 euro in damages and McGregor was also ordered to pay about 1.3 million euro in legal costs following the November trial.