New Parline: the IPU’s Open Data Platform (beta)
Your one-stop-shop for information about national parliaments

Ireland

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House of Representatives

This is a bicameral parliament. Switch to theSenate
Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Parliamentary system
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Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Bicameral
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IPU membership Current membership status
Yes
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About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Oireachtas (Parliament)
Chamber name
Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives)
Structure & Status of parliament This field is to indicate lower/upper in the back end.
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
5

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1923
IPU Geopolitical Group/s IPU Geopolitical Groups: African Group, Arab Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eurasia Group, Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), Twelve Plus Group.
Twelve Plus Group

Speaker

Official title The Speaker may for example be known as the Presiding Officer, President, Chairman/Chairperson, etc.
Chairman of Dail Eireann (An Ceann Comhairle)
Speaker
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Male)
Year of birth
1960
Term
10.03.2016
See historical data for this field.

Secretary General

Official title This post is most commonly called Secretary General or Clerk. It may also be called Secretary, Head/Chief of the Secretariat, Director General, etc.
Clerk of the Dáil and Secretary General of Parliament
Secretary General
Peter Finnegan (Male)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 13 Jan. 2016.

Members

Statutory number of members Statutory number of members, as defined in the constitution or other fundamental law.
158
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Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
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Directly elected members Directly elected by citizens.
158
Current number of members Number of members who currently hold seats in parliament. May be lower or higher than the statutory number of members.
158
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Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
35
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Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
22.15% See historical data for this field.
Statutory number of members per country As defined in the constitution or other fundamental laws. Combines the number of parliamentarians in both chambers in bicameral parliaments.
218
Population (in thousands) Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects.
4,700
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Inhabitants per parliamentarian Calculated by dividing the population by the statutory number of parliamentarians.
21,560 See historical data for this field.

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature.

 

Average age of all members
Not available
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Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
25
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Youngest member
Simon Harris (Male)
Oldest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
69
Oldest member
Sean Kenny (Male)
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 2 28 23 20 43 46 2 0 0
Total <= 45: 53 Total >= 46: 111
Male 0 1 26 19 16 34 39 2 0 0 137
Female 0 1 2 4 4 9 7 0 0 0 27
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger1.22%0.61%0.61%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger18.29%16.46%1.83%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger32.32%28.05%4.27%
Members for whom data is available
164

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups Reserved seats are a means to ensure the parliamentary representation of certain groups in society.
No
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Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Yes
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Notes
Legislated candidate quotas. Part 6 of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act of 2012 provides that political parties will face a cut of half their State funding received under the Electoral Act 1997 if they do not have at least 30% women and 30% men candidates at the next general election (2016). Seven years from the general election where this provision first applies, the Act makes provision for this figure to rise to 40% in respect of each gender, commencing at the general election held next after that.
Legal source Legal text that stipulates the quota, such as the Constitution or electoral law.
cf. Part 6 of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012.
Electoral quota for youth Quotas to promote the representation of youth in parliament.
No
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Links to additional information