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SF's John Brady to chair Public Accounts Committee

John Brady will chair the powerful Public Accounts Committee
John Brady will chair the powerful Public Accounts Committee

Sinn Féin has announced the chairpersons of the Oireachtas committees it will take charge of, including the powerful Public Accounts Committee.

Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady will chair the PAC.

Former PAC chair Deputy Mairéad Farrell will head up the Committee on Finance.

Matt Carthy will chair the Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, while Maurice Quinlivan will take charge of the Committee on Disability Matters.

The new Committee on Defence and National Security will be under the chairpersonship of Rose Conway-Walsh, while Fisheries and Maritime Affairs will be chaired by new TD Conor McGuinness.

Louise O'Reilly will chair the Committee on Petitions.

Speaking this afternoon iat Leinster House, Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin defended the party's decision not to return Ms Farrell as chair of the PAC.

He rejected the suggestion she was "booted off", or that there was any cynicism in the fact that Sinn Féin had previously celebrated Ms Farrell as the first female chair of the PAC when she was appointed in the closing weeks of the last Dáil, only to appoint Mr Brady to the role now.

"I think booted off is a very unfair description given the significant role she has [as party spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform]," Mr Ó Broin said.

"Out of seven committees we have a significant number of women who are going to make a real difference," he added.

He said Ms Farrell's frontbench role is "a really demanding one" on which she does "a brillant job."

Yesterday Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael named their committee chairs.

The two Government parties will chair 15 committees - eight for Fianna Fáil and seven for Fine Gael.

Labour will get to appoint the chairperson of the Traveller Community committee as well as the Oireachtas Committee on Media and Arts.

The Social Democrats, who became eligible for a second chairing role after declaring that its suspended Deputy Eoin Hayes remains a party TD, will chair the Health and the Drug Use committees.

Mr Hayes was indefinitely suspended by the party in December after contradictory statements about when he had sold shares in a company that supplies artificial intelligence tools to the Israeli military.

Social Democrats Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon will oversee the Drug Use committee while Cork South Central Deputy Pádraig Rice will chair the Committee on Health.

Independent TD Catherine Connolly is to oversee Irish Language committee.

The Independent Technical Group will chair the Committee on Budgetary Oversight while the Regional Independent TDs are not seeking a committee chair position.

Earlier this week, Labour TD for Tipperary Alan Kelly was appointed chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media and Communications.