Fáilte romhaibh go léir go dtí Tithe an Oireachtais.

Constituency Office:Bull Lane, Portlaoise, Laois

Office contact: Lisa Delaney - 05786 34047 Email: John.Whelan@oireachtas.ie

Office opening hours: Monday - Friday, 9.30 - 5.00pm

Contact John

The Constitution, Bunreacht nahÉireann, contains the

fundamental rules and laws bywhich our political system is

governed. It outlines ourconstitutional rights as citizens.

It was enacted by PresidentÉamon De Valera in 1937.

The Constitution outlines thefunction of the Oireachtas. TheOireachtas consists of three

different bodies: the President,Seanad Éireann (the upperhouse) and Dáil Éireann (the

lower house).

Dáil Éireann is the primarylegislative body. There are 166directly elected TDs (TeachtaDálaí) representing 43constituencies. The CeannComhairle chairs proceedingsin Dáil Éireann making surethat the rules for the debate(standing orders) are followed.

Its main functions are to holdthe government to account,debate important issues of theday, approve the spendings ofpublic money and pass newlegislation. 06

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I hope you enjoy your visit to the Houses of the

Oireachtas. If you have any queries feel free to

contact me or to visit www.labour.ie

SENATOR JOHN WHELANfacebook.com/JohnWhelan

@SenJohnWhelan

LEINSTER HOUSEVISITOR GUIDE

GOVERNMENTThe Taoiseach is the head of thegovernment. He/she is elected byDáil Éireann and then appoints thegovernment. There can be a singlemajority government or coalitiongovernment depending on thecomposition of Dáil Éireann.Governments are usually formedpost-election. The government ofthe current 31st Dáil is a coalitionbetween Fine Gael and The LabourParty.

Cabinet: The Taoiseach appoints acabinet comprising of at least 12and not more that 15 ministers, 2

of which may be members of theSeanad. The Tánaiste and Ministerfor Finance must be members ofDáil Éireann.

OIREACHTAS COMMITTEESCommittees examine proposedlegislation in detail, monitorgovernment spending and ofteninvite organisations with a specialinterest in an area to contribute totheir work. In the 31st Dáil there are9 Joint Oireachtas Committees.Each committee examines aspecific area of governmentbusiness such as transport, foreignaffairs and enterprise.

James Connolly (1868 – 1916)Commissioned by the State in 1959.One copy of the bust was presented tothe National Gallery of Ireland on 5April 1963 and the other placed in theDáil Chamber in July, 1963.

Seanad Éireann is not directly elected and has lesspower than the lower chamber, Dáil Éireann.

There are 60 members: 43 are elected by outgoing TDsand Senators and members of councils, 11 arenominated by the Taoiseach and 6 are elected by thegraduates of the National University of Ireland and thegraduates of Trinity College.

The Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann performs a similarrole to the Ceann Comhairle in Dáil Éireann. The mainfunctions of Seanad Éireann are to debate, amend, andpass legislation.

Senators can initiate some legislation but not moneybills. The Seanad can delay legislation but cannot vetoit.

The President of Ireland, Uachtarain na hÉireann, is thehead of state and is directly elected every 7 years.Candidates must be at least 35. The official residence isÁras an Uachtaráin. The President performs a largelyceremonial role and has the power to refer a bill to theSupreme Court.

ELECTORAL SYSTEMProportional Representation by Single Transferable Vote(PR-STV) in multi-seat constituencies is the electorialsystem used in Ireland. In practice this means that voterscan indicate first and subsequent choices for candidates.It can result in a greater representation of smallerparties.

Senator John Whelan contested the 2011 general election in Laois-Offaly receiving 9,026 votes, narrowlymissing out on a seat before being elected to Seanad Éireann. He is a past pupil of Sacred Heart School Portlaoise,Monasterevin CBS and St. Paul's Secondary School. He is married to Grazyna and lives in Timahoe, Portlaoise.They have three children - Faith, Ricky and Martyna - who attended school in The Rock NS, Scoil Bhríde,Knockmay, Mountmellick Community School and Ballyfin College.

The house was originally known as KildareHouse after James Fitzgerald the Earlof Kildare, who commissioned it tobe built between 1745-47. JamesFitzgerald set out to create thestateliest of Dublin Georgianmansions to reflect his eminentposition in Irish society. Whenhe became Duke of Leinster in1766 the house was renamedLeinster House. In 1815,Augustus Frederick, the third Dukeof Leinster, sold the mansion to theRoyal Dublin Society (RDS) for£10,000 and a yearly rent of £600 whichwas later redeemed. The Society madeextensive additions to the House, most notably thelecture theatre, which was later to become the Dáil

Chamber. The Dáil Chamber was originallythe lecture theatre of the RDS and wasopened as such in 1897. The room isoctagonal in shape and its originalseating capacity was 700. Littlealteration was needed to adapt itfor parliamentary purposes: thefloor was raised and the seatingcapacity reduced. After theestablishment of the Irish FreeState in 1922, the Governmentobtained a part of Leinster Housefor Parliamentary use. The entire

building was acquired by the State in1924. Today Leinster House is the seat of

the two Houses of the Oireachtas: DáilÉireann and Seanad Éireann.

HISTORY OF LEINSTER HOUSE