Leader of the Seanad

The Leader of the Seanad (referred to within the Seanad as Leader of the House Irish: Treoraí an Tí) is a member of Seanad Éireann appointed by the Taoiseach to direct government business.^[1][2] Since December 2022, the incumbent is Lisa Chambers of Fianna Fáil. The deputy leader of the Seanad is Seán Kyne of Fine Gael.

Leader of the Seanad
Incumbent Lisa Chambers since 17 December 2022

Role

The Leader plays a similar role in the Seanad's procedure to that played by the Taoiseach in Dáil Éireann:^[3]

• moving the day's order of business
• may present a government bill without prior notice
• ex-officio member of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges
• may move a vote of sympathy

History

In the Seanad of the Irish Free State, there was no separate position of Leader.^[1] The order of business was controlled by the Cathaoirleach (chair).^[1] This was a symptom of the Seanad's independence from the Executive Council (government), which annoyed Éamon de Valera as President of the Executive Council.^[1] De Valera's Fianna Fáil government secured the abolition of the Seanad in 1936.^[1]

De Valera's 1937 Constitution created a new Seanad with less independence from the Dáil. The standing orders of the new Seanad provided for the role of Leader to control the flow of business from the government.^[3][1] A 2004 Seanad report into reforming its own functions recommended that the Leader be allowed to attend cabinet meetings, with a rank of minister or minister of state.^[1][4] Maurice Manning noted in 2010 that recent Leaders had more influence with the government, leading to increased input by the Seanad into legislation.^[1]

List

Name	Term of office		Party		Governments	Notes
William Quirke[5]	1938	1948		Fianna Fáil	2nd, 3rd, 4th
Michael Hayes[5]	1948	1951		Fine Gael	5th
William Quirke[5]	1951	1954		Fianna Fáil	6th
Michael Hayes[5]	1954	1957		Fine Gael	7th
Thomas Mullins	1957	1973		Fianna Fáil	8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th
Michael J. O'Higgins	1 June 1973	27 October 1977		Fine Gael	14th
Eoin Ryan Snr	27 October 1977	8 October 1981		Fianna Fáil	15th, 16th
Gemma Hussey	8 October 1981	February 1982		Fine Gael	17th	Vacated Leadership and Seanad seat upon election to Dáil.
Eoin Ryan Snr	26 March 1982	21 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	18th
James Dooge	21 December 1982	3 April 1987		Fine Gael	19th
Mick Lanigan	3 April 1987	16 May 1990		Fianna Fáil	20th, 21st	Resigned as Leader after Fianna Fáil lost a series of votes while all its senators were absent.
Seán Fallon	16 May 1990	23 January 1992		Fianna Fáil	21st	Vacated Leadership upon being elected Cathaoirleach to replace Seán Doherty
G. V. Wright	23 January 1992	20 December 1994		Fianna Fáil	21st, 22nd, 23rd	The 21st government ended when Charles Haughey resigned as Taoiseach, seven days after Doherty's resignation as Cathaoirleach over the same controversy.
Maurice Manning	20 December 1994	17 September 1997		Fine Gael	24th
Donie Cassidy	17 September 1997	May 2002		Fianna Fáil	25th	Vacated Leadership and Seanad seat upon election to Dáil.
Mary O'Rourke	26 June 2002	May 2007		Fianna Fáil	26th	Vacated Leadership and Seanad seat upon election to Dáil.
Donie Cassidy	3 July 2007	25 May 2011		Fianna Fáil	27th, 28th
Maurice Cummins	25 May 2011	8 June 2016		Fine Gael	29th
Jerry Buttimer	8 June 2016	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	30th, 31st
Regina Doherty	27 June 2020	17 December 2022		Fine Gael	32nd
Lisa Chambers	17 December 2022	Incumbent		Fianna Fáil	33rd, 34th

References

1. Manning, Maurice (2010). "The Senate" (PDF). In MacCarthaigh, Muiris; Manning, Maurice (eds.). The Houses of the Oireachtas: Parliament in Ireland. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration. pp. 153–168. ISBN 978-1-904541-93-6. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
2. "Seanad Éireann". How Parliament works. Oireachtas. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
3. Éireann, Seanad (20 June 2017). "Standing Orders relative to Public Business" (PDF). pp. 91–92. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
4. Committee on Procedure and Privileges, Sub-Committee on Seanad Reform (19 April 2004). "Report on Seanad Reform" (PDF). Seanad Éireann. p. 62. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2004.
5. "Death of Senator". Seanad Éireann (in Irish). Oireachtas. 9 March 1955. Retrieved 11 October 2018. When the Seanad was reconstituted in 1938, he was elected a member on the Agricultural Panel and served either as Leader of the House or as Leader of the Opposition until his death. [...] For the greater part of that period, he was Leader of the House and I was Leader of the Opposition. We changed places twice