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The 32nd Dáil was elected at the 2016 general election on 26 February and first met at 10.30 a.m. on 10 March 2016. The members of
Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...
, the
house of representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
of the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
(legislature) of
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, are known as TDs. It sat with the
25th Seanad The 25th Seanad was in office from 2016 to 2020. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 2016 general election to the 32nd Dáil on 26 February. There are 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were el ...
as the two Houses of the Oireachtas. The 32nd Dáil was dissolved by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...
on 14 January 2020, at the request of the
Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) 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 Teachta Dála, ...
. The 32nd Dáil lasted .


Composition of the 32nd Dáil

Government party denoted with bullet ()
Party giving
confidence and supply In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...
denoted by C. ;Notes


Ceann Comhairle

*
Ceann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session ...
:
Seán Ó Fearghaíl Seán Ó Fearghaíl (; born 17 April 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare South constituency since 2002. He served as the Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from March 2016 to December 202 ...
(Fianna Fáil) *
Leas-Cheann Comhairle The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the Chair (officer), chairperson (or speaker (politics), speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by m ...
:
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher Patrick Gallagher (; born 10 March 1948) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since the 2024 general election, and previously from 1981 to 1997, 2002 to 2009, 2016 to 2020. He serv ...
(Fianna Fáil) The first act of the 32nd Dáil was the election of the Ceann Comhairle. This was the first time the Ceann Comhairle was elected by secret ballot. On 2 June 2016,
Seán Crowe Seán Crowe (born 7 March 1957) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency since the 2011 general election, and previously from 2002 to 2007. He was appointed Chair of the Commit ...
,
Mattie McGrath Matthew McGrath (born 1 September 1958) is an Irish independent politician and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary South constituency since the 2024 general election, and previously from 2007 to 2016. He was a TD for the Tipperary constitu ...
,
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher Patrick Gallagher (; born 10 March 1948) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since the 2024 general election, and previously from 1981 to 1997, 2002 to 2009, 2016 to 2020. He serv ...
and
Bernard Durkan Bernard J. Durkan (born 26 March 1945) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare North constituency from 1997 to 2024, and previously from 1982 to 1997 and 1981 to 1982 for the Kildare constituen ...
were nominated for the position of Leas-Cheann Comhairle. No candidate was elected by resolution. On 6 July, the Dáil proceeded to an election by secret ballot using the single transferable vote. On 7 July, Gallagher was declared elected and approved by resolution.


Political leadership


Government

*
Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
**
Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) 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 (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...
(6 May 2016 – 14 June 2017) **
Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) 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 Teachta Dála, ...
(14 June 2017 – 14 January 2020) *
Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...
** Frances Fitzgerald (6 May 2016 – 28 November 2017) **
Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2022 to 2024. He served as Leader of Fine Gael#Deputy leaders, deputy leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 202 ...
(30 November 2017 – 14 January 2020)


Opposition

*
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
and
Leader of Fianna Fáil The leader of Fianna Fáil is the most senior politician within the Fianna Fáil political party in Ireland. Since 2011 Fianna Fáil leadership election, 26 January 2011, the office has been held by Micheál Martin, following the resignation of ...
:
Micheál Martin Micheál Martin (; born 16 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician serving as Taoiseach since January 2025, having previously held the position from 2020 to 2022. Martin served as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Min ...
** Fianna Fáil Chief whip: Michael Moynihan *
Leader of Sinn Féin Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...
:
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...
,
Mary Lou McDonald Mary Louise McDonald (born 1 May 1969) is an Irish politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition in Ireland since June 2020, as President of Sinn Féin since February 2018, and as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituen ...
** Sinn Féin Chief Whip:
Aengus Ó Snodaigh Aengus Ó Snodaigh (; born 31 July 1964) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, author and historian who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency since the 2002 general election. Early and personal life A Dubliner a ...
* Leader of the Labour Party:
Brendan Howlin Brendan Howlin (born 9 May 1956) is an Irish former Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party (Ireland), Leader of the Labour Party from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Public Expenditure, National Devel ...
* Leader of the Green Party:
Eamon Ryan Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport from June 2020 to January 2025, and was Leader of the Green Par ...
* Leader of the Social Democrats: Catherine Murphy &
Róisín Shortall Róisín Shortall (born 25 April 1954) is an Irish former Social Democrats politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency from 1992 to 2024. She was previously founding joint leader of the Social Democrats ...


Oireachtas Committees


List of TDs

This is a list of TDs elected to Dáil Éireann in the 2016 general election. The
Changes Changes may refer to: Books * '' Changes: A Love Story'', 1991 novel by Ama Ata Aidoo * ''Changes'' (The Dresden Files) (2010), the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a 1983 novel by Danielle Steel * ''Chan ...
table below records changes in membership and party affiliation.


Technical groups

In the wake of the 2016 general election, which saw a significant increase in the number of TDs elected as independents or from small parties in the 32nd Dáil, the Dáil standing orders were extensively revised to reduce the minimum number for the formation of a
technical group In parliamentary politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogeneous group of elected officials who are of differing ideologies, comprising multiple small political parties, independent politicians, or a combination of both. They can be ...
from seven TDs to five, and to allow multiple technical groups to exist in parallel. In January 2018, there were three groups; Independents 4 Change Group (7), Social Democrats–Green Party Group (5) and the Rural Independents Group (7).


Independents 4 Change Group


Social Democrats–Green Party Group


Rural Independents Group


Firsts

For the first time, two siblings were elected to Dáil Éireann from the same constituency:
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
and
Danny Healy-Rae Daniel Healy-Rae (born 16 July 1954) is an Irish independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry constituency since the 2016 general election. He is part of the Healy-Rae family. He is a son of Jackie Healy-Rae and br ...
for Kerry. Having become the first openly lesbian member of the
Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
and the first member in a recognised same-sex relationship with her Seanad nomination in 2011,
Katherine Zappone Katherine Zappone (; born 25 November 1953) is an American-Irish independent politician who served as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from May 2016 to June 2020. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from ...
also became the first openly lesbian
Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...
(TD) after being elected to the Dáil in 2016, and later the first openly lesbian member of government.
Independents 4 Change Independents 4 Change is an Irish political alliance, with registration as a political party, comprising several independent politicians. It had two MEPs in the Ninth European Parliament: Clare Daly and Mick Wallace. History The political ...
, the
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
and
Aontú Aontú (; "Unity") is a conservative Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has been led by Peadar Tóibín since its foundation in January 2019. The party holds socially conservative ...
had their first TDs. On 14 June 2017 Leo Varadkar became the first openly gay Taoiseach.
Malcolm Byrne Malcolm Byrne (born 25 April 1974) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow–Wexford constituency since the 2024 general election. He previously served as a Senator for the Cultural and Educat ...
became the first openly gay man to win a by-election, and the first openly gay Fianna Fáil TD.


Changes


References


External links


Houses of the Oireachtas: Debates: 32nd Dáil
{{DEFAULTSORT:32nd Dail 2016 in the Republic of Ireland Lists of Teachtaí Dála by term