John Halligan (politician)

John Halligan (born 18 January 1955) is an Irish former Independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford constituency from 2011 to 2020.[2] He also served as Minister of State for Training and Skills from 2016 to 2020.

John Halligan
Minister of State for Training and Skills
In office 19 May 2016 – 27 June 2020
Taoiseach	Enda Kenny Leo Varadkar
Preceded by	Damien English
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Teachta Dála
In office February 2011 – February 2020
Constituency	Waterford
Personal details
Born	(1955-01-18) 18 January 1955 Waterford, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Workers' Party (1999–2007)
Spouse(s)	Elaine Powell (m. 2016)[1]
Children	3
Alma mater	Waterford Institute of Technology

He was first elected to the Waterford City Council in 1999, for the Workers' Party of Ireland. At the 2004 local elections, he topped the poll in Waterford No. 3 electoral area. In February 2008, he resigned from the Workers' Party, when the party refused to drop its opposition to service charges, which Halligan supported.[3] In 2009, as an Independent candidate, Halligan again topped the poll in his area.[4] After the 2009 local elections, Halligan entered into a pact with Fine Gael and the Labour Party on Waterford City Council. As a result, he was duly elected Mayor of Waterford, serving from 2009 to 2010. He was an unsuccessful Workers' Party candidate for the Waterford constituency at the 2002 and 2007 general elections.[4]

He was elected as a TD for the Waterford constituency at the 2011 general election, receiving 5,546 first preference votes (10.3%) and was elected on the 11th count.[4] Following his election to the Dáil in February 2011, Sean Reinhardt was co-opted to replace Halligan on Waterford City Council.[5] In March 2011, Halligan joined the Dáil technical group allowing himself more speaking time in Dáil debates.[6] On 15 December 2011, he helped launch a nationwide campaign against a proposed household charge being brought in as part of the 2012 Irish budget.[7]

He joined the Independent Alliance upon its inception in 2015.[8] On 27 February 2016, he was re-elected as a TD for Waterford at the general election, receiving 8,306 first preference votes and was elected on the 8th count. After prolonged talks on government formation, Halligan voted for Enda Kenny as Taoiseach on 6 May 2016, allowing Kenny to become the first Leader of Fine Gael to be re-elected to the office of Taoiseach.[9] He joined the government as part of the Independent Alliance, becoming a government deputy. As part of the deal between Fine Gael and the Alliance, he was appointed Minister of State for Training and Skills.

In November 2017, the Workplace Relations Commission found that he had violated equality legislation by asking a candidate "Do you have children? How old are your children?" during a job interview; the WRC ordered the minister's department to pay €7,500 to the candidate.[10]