The Dáil
The Irish Parliament (Legislature) consists of two Houses, Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. This is a general overview of the work
of the Members of Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives).
Members of Dáil Éireann are elected by citizens aged
18 years and over. A Member's official Irish title is "Teachta
Dála" which in English means "Deputy to the Dáil";
Members are generally called "TDs" or "Deputies".
By law, a General Election to Dáil Éireann must
be held at least once every five years.
For electoral purposes, the country is divided into areas known
as constituencies, each of which elects either
three, four or five Members.
Under the Constitution there must
be at least one Member for every 20,000 to 30,000 people and
at present there are 166 Members representing 42 constituencies.
Q. Can you find your constituency?
A. Roll your mouse over the map below to find your constituency.
Q. Who are your local representatives?
A. Click
here to see the full list of constituencies.
Deputies represent the entire electorate within their constituencies
and provide an essential democratic link between constituents,
Government and Parliament. A Deputy can be a member of a Government
Party, the Opposition or sit as an Independent.
Q. Do you know the name of the Government party/ies?
Q. Do you know the name of any of the Opposition parties?
Q. Is anyone in your area an Independent?
The work of a Deputy is extremely varied. Deputies will, therefore,
divide their time between the needs of their constituency, where
they maintain close links with local people, groups and organisations,
and attendance at meetings of Dáil Éireann and
its many specialist committees.
Deputies hold regular advice clinics throughout their constituencies
which enables constituents to meet them personally. Very often
assistance may be required to help with a personal/family problem
with a Government Department, local authority or health board.
If necessary, the Deputy will use the procedures of Dáil Éireann
(e.g. Parliamentary Question) to have the matter discussed.
A typical day's work for a Deputy in Dáil Éireann
includes researching and preparing speeches for debates on social,
economic, financial and budgetary issues, drafting amendments
to and examining proposals for new legislation, contributing
to debates on Bills and other important matters, voting on issues
in the House, attending Question Time, participating in the proceedings
of Committees and making either oral or written representations
on behalf of constituents to Ministers or Government Departments.
View a short video of Dáil Question Time.
See the Diary for details on what a
Deputy does during a day.
In relation to Committee work, Dáil Éireann has
its own specialised Committee system which advises on a wide
range of legislative, social, economic and financial business.
Other work conducted by these Committees includes the processing
of legislation and the examination of Government expenditure.
A Deputy will often be a member of more than one Committee or
indeed its Chairperson.
Deputies also have an international political
role to play through their membership of international bodies
e.g. the Council of Europe, the British-Irish Inter-parliamentary
Body and other parliamentary associations and are frequently
called upon by national and international TV and Radio to participate
in current affairs programmes.
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