Noel Dempsey

Noel Dempsey
Minister for Transport
In office 14 June 2007 – 19 January 2011
Preceded by	Martin Cullen
Succeeded by	Pat Carey
Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources
In office 29 September 2004 – 14 June 2007
Preceded by	Dermot Ahern
Succeeded by	Eamon Ryan
Minister for Education and Science
In office 6 June 2002 – 29 September 2004
Preceded by	Michael Woods
Succeeded by	Mary Hanafin
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
In office 26 June 1997 – 6 June 2002
Preceded by	Brendan Howlin
Succeeded by	Martin Cullen
Minister of State at the Department of Finance
In office 14 January 1993 – 15 December 1994
Preceded by	Noel Treacy
Succeeded by	Hugh Coveney
Minister of State at the Department of Defence
In office 11 February 1992 – 15 December 1994
Preceded by	Dermot Ahern
Succeeded by	Seán Barrett
Government Chief Whip
In office 11 February 1992 – 15 December 1994
Preceded by	Dermot Ahern
Succeeded by	Seán Barrett
Teachta Dála
In office February 1987 – May 2007
Constituency	Meath
Personal details
Born	6 January 1953 (1953-01-06) (age 58) Trim, County Meath
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Spouse(s)	Bernadette Rattigan
Children	4
Alma mater	University College Dublin St Patrick's College, Maynooth
Website	noeldempsey.ie

Noel Dempsey (born 6 January 1953) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath and Meath West constituencies from 1987 to 2011.^[1] Dempsey has also served as Minister for Environment and Local Government (1997–2002), Minister for Education and Science (2002–04), Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (2004–07) and Minister for Transport (2007–11).

Early and private life

Noel Dempsey was born in Trim, County Meath in 1953. He is one of twelve sons born and educated locally at Scoil Naomh Brid in Boardsmill and St. Michael's CBS in Trim. Dempsey later attended University College Dublin where he was conferred with a Bachelor of Arts degree as well as a diploma in career guidance. He subsequently completed a Higher Diploma in Education at St Patrick's College, Maynooth and worked as a career guidance teacher for many years.

Dempsey is married to Bernadette Rattigan and they have four children – two sons and two daughters. He is also a member of the Gaelic Athletic Association and is a keen supporter of the Meath Gaelic football team as well as his local club teams. He has also been a member of Macra na Feirme and Muintir na Tíre.

Early political career

Dempsey first became involved in politics in the early 1970s when he joined Ógra Fianna Fáil, the youth wing of the Fianna Fáil political party. He later attended and spoke at the first ever national conference of Ógra. Within three years of this Dempsey was co-opted onto Meath County Council as a Fianna Fáil councillor in 1977 following the death of John Bird. At the time he was the youngest ever member of that authority and he later served as the youngest ever chairman of the council in 1986. Dempsey enhanced his local political profile at this time by also serving as a member of Trim Urban District Council.

Dempsey was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1987 general election as a Fianna Fáil TD for Meath.^[2] Shortly after being elected he became a member of the Public Accounts Committee, one of the most high-profile committees in the Dáil. Dempsey was initially a supporter of the Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey, however, he became disillusioned with his leadership when he led Fianna Fáil into coalition with the Progressive Democrats following the 1989 general election. He was one of a number of TDs who were vehemently opposed to such a move. As a result of this Dempsey remained on the backbenches.

In September 1991 Dempsey was a key member of the so-called "gang of four" which proposed a motion of no confidence in Charles Haughey as the leader of the party. The other members of the group were Seán Power, Liam Fitzgerald and M. J. Nolan. Dempsey supported Albert Reynolds in his unsuccessful bid to oust Haughey on that occasion. In 1992 Reynolds eventually became party leader and Taoiseach and Dempsey's loyalty was rewarded by being appointed Minister of State with responsibility as government chief whip. He also took charge of the Office of Public Works. He served in these positions until the resignation of Reynolds as Taoiseach and the collapse of the Fianna Fáil-Labour Party in 1994.

In December 1994 Bertie Ahern became leader of Fianna Fáil as the party moved into opposition. Dempsey was appointed to the front bench as spokesperson on the Environment and Local Government. During this period in opposition he was heavily involved in key election strategies, most notably in the Dublin West by-election which was won by Brian Lenihan, Jnr. It was Fianna Fáil's first by-election victory since 1985.

Cabinet career (1997–2011)

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (1997–2002)

Following the 1997 general election Dempsey was a key player in helping to negotiate a programme for government between Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. When Bertie Ahern became Taoiseach Dempsey was appointed to the position of Minister for the Environment and Local Government. His tenure as minister has been described as one of reform and modernisation, with Frank McDonald of The Irish Times even describing Dempsey as the best holder of the environment portfolio since the position was created.^{[citation needed]}

Some of Dempsey's major achievements as minister include the introduction of the Local Government Act 2000 which was seen as the most comprehensive reform of local government in Ireland for over a century. One of his best known initiatives was the introduction of a levy on plastic shopping bags leading to a reduction in the usage of these bags and a serious decrease in the litter problem related to these plastic bags. Dempsey also proposed to end the 'dual mandate' whereby a person can serve as a county councillor and a TD at the same time. This proposal, however, led to severe opposition from the Independent TDs who supported the government at the time and had to be deferred. The legislation eventually became law in 2003.

During his tenure as minister Dempsey continued to serve as the Fianna Fáil director of elections. His first major success was the election of Mary McAleese to the position of President of Ireland in 1997. Two years later in 1999 he presided over the most successful local election campaign for the party ever.

Minister for Education and Science (2002–04)

Following the re-election of the government in 2002 Dempsey became Minister for Education and Science. He took over as minister at a time when one of the teachers unions was extremely dissatisfied with a number of pay issues. These issues were eventually resolved in 2002 shortly after taking office. As Minister for Education, Dempsey was forced into an embarrassing climb down in 2004 on his proposal to re-introduce third-level fees. The move was opposed by the Union of Students in Ireland and by the Progressive Democrats.

Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (2004–07)

Following a cabinet reshuffle in September 2004 Dempsey was appointed Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. During his tenure he oversaw the controversial Corrib gas project. After agreeing to have an independent assessment of the raw gas pipeline planned for Kilcommon, Erris, Dempsey employed a firm to carry it out. Only after the report was concluded did it emerge that the firm was half owned by Royal Dutch Shell, a fact which they neglected to relate to the minister. An embarrassed Dempsey was forced to hastily commission another report.

Coming to the end of his tenure at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and before the reshuffle after the general election in May 2007 his department pursued the resurrection of Digital Terrestrial Television following its failure to be established under the Broadcasting Act 2001 due to unfavourable economic conditions for venture capital around the DTT market in many countries in 2001. First his department invited tenders to build and programme a DTT trial in Dublin and Louth. The failure seemed to lie around a commercial network builder model and the difficulties in creating revenue generation return for such investment and the solution seems to be the involvement of broadcasters in building the networks. An amended piece of legislation amended this model towards a multiple ultiplex operator model and resulted resulted in the Broadcasting (Amendment) Act 2007 (No. 15 of 2007). A similar model has been successful during the intervening years in the UK and Spain.

To that end his department also established a DTT trial in August 2006 to run for 2 years around Three Rock, Dublin transmitter and Claremont Carn, in County Louth.^[3]

Minister for Transport (2007–11)

Following the 2007 general election Dempsey was appointed as Minister for Transport. Among legislation introduced was the requirement of those on provisional driving licences to be accompanied by a qualified driver, which came into effect on 1 July 2008. Dempsey received widespread criticism across all the Irish media over his January 2010 holiday in Malta and perceived uncontactability at this time when severe weather conditions led to massive disruption in across Ireland's transport systems.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Retirement from politics

On 17 December 2010, he announced that he would not be contesting the 2011 general election.^[10] On 19 January 2011, he announced his resignation as Minister for Transport.^[11]

Dempsey receives pension payments of €119,177 every year.^[12]

References

1. ^ "Mr. Noel Dempsey". Oireachtas Members Database. http://oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=30&MemberID=309&ConstID=219. Retrieved 15 September 2009. 
2. ^ "Noel Dempsey". ElectionsIreland.org. http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3725. Retrieved 15 September 2009. 
3. ^ "Minister Noel Dempsey Announces Launch of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Pilot in Ireland". Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. 16 August 2006. http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Press+Releases/2006/Minister+Noel+Dempsey+Announces+Launch+of+Digital+Terrestrial+Television+%28DTT%29+Pilot+in+Ireland.htm. Retrieved 15 September 2009. 
4. ^ irishtimes.com
5. ^ herald.ie: Michael O'Doherty: What on earth did any of us do to deserve Noel Dempsey?
6. ^ irishtimes.com: Mary Minihan: Dempsey defends absence during extended cold spell
7. ^ rte.ie: Dempsey defends holiday absence
8. ^ herald.ie: Ian Mallon: Why our sneering yeti-like transport minister should go back into hiding
9. ^ breakingnews.iol.ie: Focus on my holiday 'unfair', says Transport Minister
10. ^ "Noel Dempsey will not contest election". RTÉ News. 17 December 2010. http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1217/dempseyn.html. Retrieved 17 December 2010. 
11. ^ "Four Ministers resign from cabinet". RTÉ News. 19 January 2011. http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0119/harneym.html. Retrieved 20 January 2011. 
12. ^ "Thanks big fellas: Ahern and Cowen get massive pensions". Irish Independent. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/thanks-big-fellas-ahern-and-cowen-get-massive-pensions-2931032.html. Retrieved 10 November 2011. 

External links

• Official website

Oireachtas
Preceded by Jim Fitzsimons (Fianna Fáil)	Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Meath 1987–2007	Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Preceded by New constituency	Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Meath West 2007–2011	Succeeded by Ray Butler (Fine Gael)
Political offices
Preceded by Dermot Ahern	Government Chief Whip 1992–1994	Succeeded by Seán Barrett
	Minister of State at the Department of Defence 1992–1994
Preceded by Noel Treacy	Minister of State at the Department of Finance 1993–1994	Succeeded by Phil Hogan
Preceded by Brendan Howlin as Minister for the Environment	Minister for Environment and Local Government 1997–2002	Succeeded by Martin Cullen as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Preceded by Michael Woods	Minister for Education and Science 2002–2004	Succeeded by Mary Hanafin
Preceded by Dermot Ahern	Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources 2004–2007	Succeeded by Eamon Ryan as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Preceded by Martin Cullen	Minister for Transport 2007–2011	Succeeded by Pat Carey

Persondata
Name	Dempsey, Noel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	6 January 1953
Place of birth	Trim, County Meath
Date of death
Place of death