Mayo TD Alan Dillon elected new chair of Fine Gael parliamentary party

Mayo TD Alan Dillon has been elected as the new chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party.

The first-term TD, a former Mayo football captain and two time All Star winner, will replace Richard Bruton, the Dublin Bay North TD and former cabinet minister who has said he will stand down from politics at the next general election.

Castlebar native Mr Dillon, who had been serving as parliamentary party secretary, won out over Kildare North’s Bernard Durkan in a vote held by the parliamentary party on Wednesday evening.

Garrett Ahern, the Tipperary-based Senator, will remain as vice-chair of the parliamentary party.

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Mr Dillon won plaudits over his performance as a member of both the Oireachtas media committee and the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee during marathon sessions held into the RTÉ - Ryan Tubridy payments controversy over the summer.

Paying tribute to outgoing chairperson Deputy Richard Bruton, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that there would be another occasion to recognise his 42 years of public service, but, for now, he wished to acknowledge the contribution he made to Fine Gael as party chair.

He congratulated new chairperson Mr Dillon, saying that his work ethic was commendable and as a former sportsman, he would bring a range of qualities to the role including dedication, commitment and resilience. He said the new chairperson has already shown himself to be a valued team player and wished him well with his new role.

Speaking at the Wednesday evening meeting, Mr Varadkar said that while disagreements in Government are common, recent reports of unrest are exaggerated.

He pointed out that almost 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have come to Ireland over the past two years, with approximately 700 refugees continuing to arrive on a weekly basis.

In addition, some 20,000 people seeking international protection (IP) have come to Ireland. For the vast majority of those 120,000, the Irish Government and people have provided accommodation, food, heat, light, education, income and in some cases, jobs. This is something that we will all look back on with pride, he said, but while there is no limit on compassion, there is a limit to capacity and that is a challenge.

Members heard that Fine Gael has completed 58% of its selection conventions ahead of next year’s Local Elections.

Elsewhere, the weekly meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on Wednesday evening heard an update on last week’s flooding from Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who told colleagues it was a “very serious flooding event”.

James O’Connor, the TD for Cork East, said a package of enhanced supports had been welcomed locally. Under a new scheme, businesses can apply for up to €100,000 to cover costs associated with the damaging floods which hit Midleton and other areas.

However, Laois-Offally TD Barry Cowen and Longford-Westmeath’s Robert Troy reiterated previous calls for flood defence schemes, reliefs and supports to be put in place, particularly in the Shannon and wider midlands region.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly gave the meeting an update on health and HSE recruitment, saying that the a recruitment pause brought in in the health service does not apply to replacing existing or funded posts.