31st Dáil


The 31st Dáil was elected at the 2011 general election on 25 February 2011 and first met at midday on 9 March 2011 in Leinster House. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 24th Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas.
The 2011 election saw 17 Dáil constituencies return 3 TDs each, 15 constituencies return 4 TDs each and 11 constituencies return 5 TDs each, for a total of 166. Seán Barrett was elected as Ceann Comhairle in the first sitting of the Dáil. For the first time, Fine Gael, led by Enda Kenny, became the largest party. It formed a coalition government with the Labour Party, led by Eamon Gilmore, who had achieved their highest number of seats in the party's history. In July 2014, Joan Burton won a [2014 Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party leadership election (Ireland)|Labour Party leadership election] to become the leader of the Labour Party and Tánaiste.
Fianna Fáil secured 20 seats, the lowest in the party's history, and was the largest opposition party. The leader of the party, Micheál Martin became the Leader of the Opposition. Gerry Adams as leader of Sinn Féin became the second opposition leader. A technical group was formed following the election composed of 16 independent politicians and members of the United Left Alliance, who failed to win enough seats to gain speaking rights.
Almost half of the members of the 30th Dáil were absent from the 31st: 31 members retired before the poll and a further 45 TDs lost their seats at the election. 76 new TDs were elected to the Dáil, 46% of the total.
The 31st Dáil was dissolved by President Michael D. Higgins on 3 February 2016, at the request of the Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The 31st Dáil lasted.

Composition of the 31st Dáil

Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed a two-thirds 'supermajority' government with 68% of all TDs in the Dáil being part upon its formation. Through resignations and deaths, it would be reduced to a majority of 99 TDs. It holds the record for largest government majority in Irish history.
While the two parties were the 1st and 2nd largest parties in the Dáil, it was not considered a grand coalition. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were traditionally rivals, while Labour was typically Fine Gael's coalition partner. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would form a grand coalition with the Green Party as a junior partner in 33rd Dáil.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny became the Taoiseach and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore became the Tánaiste.

Graphical representation

The following illustrates the composition of the 31st Dáil at the time of its first sitting on 9 March 2011. This is not the official seating plan. The government parties sit to the left of the Ceann Comhairle and opposition parties sit to the right.
The following illustrates the composition at the time of its dissolution in February 2016.
Government
Opposition
;Note
The Socialist Party, People Before Profit Alliance, Workers and Unemployed Action Group and some Independent TDs sat together as a technical group, which was later joined by Renua and the Social Democrats.

Ceann Comhairle

On 9 March 2011, Seán Barrett was proposed by Enda Kenny for the position of Ceann Comhairle. He was approved without a vote.

Leadership

Government

Opposition

Committees

  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Andrew Doyle
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Pat Deering
  • Chairwoman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection: Joanna Tuffy
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection: Aodhán Ó Ríordáin
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Michael McCarthy
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Noel Coonan
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs: Dominic Hannigan
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs: Dara Murphy
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Ciarán Lynch
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Liam Twomey
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Pat Breen
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Bernard Durkan
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children: Jerry Buttimer
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children: Ciara Conway
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Joe McHugh
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Joe O'Reilly
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee of Inquiry: Ciarán Lynch
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Derek Nolan
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Damien English
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: John Lyons
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Select Committee on Members' Interests of Dáil Éireann: Thomas Pringle
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Select Committee on Procedure and Privileges : Seán Barrett
  • * Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Sub-Committee on Administration: Joe Carey
  • * Chairman of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Dáil Reform: Paul Kehoe
  • * Chairman of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Privileges: Emmet Stagg
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee: John McGuinness
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee: Kieran O'Donnell
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications: John O'Mahony
  • * Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications: Paudie Coffey
  • Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Standing Orders : Denis O'Donovan – Senator

List of TDs

This is a list of TDs elected to Dáil Éireann in the 2011 general election, sorted by party. Note this table is a record of the 2011 general election results. The [|Changes] table below records all changes in party affiliation.
;Notes