| 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 Kennys 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 1 | 26 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 |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
