Constituency Carlow–Kilkenny Name John Phelan Constituency Agricultural Panel Role Irish Politician | Nationality Irish Party Fine Gael Political party Fine Gael | |
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Born 27 September 1978 (age 45)
Waterford, Ireland ( 1978-09-27 ) Alma mater Waterford Institute of Technology Education Waterford Institute of Technology Profiles | ||
John paul phelan td fg ireland east
John Paul Phelan (born 27 September 1978) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister of State for Local Government and Electoral Reform since June 2017. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) since 2011, currently for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency. He was a Senator for the Labour Panel from 2002 to 2011.
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Phelan attended national school in Listerlin, County Kilkenny, and Good Counsel College secondary school in New Ross before graduating from Waterford Institute of Technology with an Economics and Finance degree. He was elected to Kilkenny County Council in 1999 for the Piltown electoral area, the youngest person ever elected to that council.
He was elected in 2002 to Seanad Éireann by the Agricultural Panel, the youngest member of the 22nd Seanad, and was re-elected in 2007. He was the Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, having previously held the portfolio of Seanad spokesperson on Finance.
In the 2007 general election, he was beaten for the last seat by Mary White of the Green Party. He was a candidate at the 2009 European Parliament election for the East constituency but was not elected.
He was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the 2011 general election.
Phelan sits on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Law and Defence. He is one of the Irish delegates sitting on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and is an Irish representative on the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. He was critical of the Government decision to change the rules regarding the Domiciliary Care Allowance its effect on families of children with Autism. On 10 November 2012, Phelan took part in the "Save our Services" protest march in Waterford.