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IRELAND
Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives)
LAST ELECTIONS

Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module

A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page

Parliament name (generic / translated) Oireachtas / Parliament
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Dáil Éireann / House of Representatives
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Seanad Éireann - Senate / Senate
BACKGROUND
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 26 February 2016
Purpose of elections The 2016 elections resulted in a hung parliament. The parties in Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s outgoing coalition, Fine Gael and the Labour Party, saw their share of seats sharply reduced to 57 of the 158-member House of Representatives. The opposition Fianna Faíl, led by Mr. Micheál Martin, more than doubled its seats to 44, becoming the second largest force.

By 14 April 2016, the House of Representatives had failed to elect a new Prime Minister three times. On 3 May, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil singed a Confidence and Supply Arrangement, paving the way for a Fine Gael-led minority government to be formed. On 6 May, the House of Representatives re-elected Mr. Kenny as Prime Minister. He thereby became the first Fine Gael leader to be elected for two consecutive terms. He was then sworn in by President Michael Higgins.

The election campaign focused on economic issues. Ireland has had the fastest growing economy in the eurozone since 2014. In 2013, it became the first country in the eurozone to exit an international bailout programme following the 2008 economic crisis. The ruling coalition called on voters' support to continue the economic recovery. Opposition parties criticized the government, arguing that the economic recovery was yet to be felt by many citizens.

The statutory number of members in the House was reduced from 166 to 158, based on the Constituency Committee Report 2012. The number of women increased from 25 out of 166 (15.06%) in 2011 to 35 out of 158 (22.15%) in 2016. That is a record high in Ireland and followed the adoption of a gender quota for general elections in 2012. The quota stipulates that political parties must ensure that at least 30% of their candidates are women and 30% are men. This ratio will increase to 40% from 2023. Failure to respect the quota would see parties' State funding cut by half.
Date of previous elections: 25 February 2011

Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: 3 February 2016

Timing of election: Upon normal expiry

Expected date of next elections: February 2021

Number of seats at stake: 158 (full renewal)

Number of candidates: 552* (389 men, 163 women)
*Including the outgoing Speaker, Mr. Seán Barrett, who was re-elected unopposed.

Percentage of women candidates: 29.5%

Number of parties contesting the election: 23

Number of parties winning seats: 8

Alternation of power: No

Number of parties in government: 1

Names of parties in government: Fine Gael

Date of the first session of the new parliament: 10 March 2016

Name of the new Speaker: Mr. Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Fianna Fail)
STATISTICS
Voter turnout
Round no 126 February 2016
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes
3'305'110
2'151'293 (65.09%)

Notes
Distribution of votes
Round no 1
Political Group Candidates Votes %
Fine Gael
Fianna Fail
Sinn Fein
Independents
Labour Party
Anti-Austerity Alliance - People Before Profit (AAA-PBP)
Independents 4 Change (I.4.C)
Social Democratic Party
Green Party
Distribution of seats
Round no 1
Political Group Total
Fine Gael 50
Fianna Fail 44
Sinn Fein 23
Independents 19
Labour Party 7
Anti-Austerity Alliance - People Before Profit (AAA-PBP) 6
Independents 4 Change (I.4.C) 4
Social Democratic Party 3
Green Party 2
Distribution of seats according to sex
Men
Women
Percent of women
123
35
22.15%
Distribution of seats according to age
Distribution of seats according to profession
Comments
Note:
The distribution of seats indicated above includes outgoing Speaker Mr. Seán Barrett (Fine Gael) who was re-elected unopposed.

Sources:
House of Representatives (08.03.2016, 04.05.2016)
32nd Dáil General Election – February 2016 - Results: http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/publications/201632DailElectionResults.pdf
Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (28.04.2016)
http://www.environ.ie
http://www.irishtimes.com/election-2016/results-hub
http://utv.ie/election2016

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