YESTERDAY, FIANNA FÁIL’S Erin McGreehan told us about her experience of being a TD, today we hear from Fine Gael’s James Geoghegan. 

The Dublin Bay South TD was first elected as a councillor in 2019 and before this worked for Renua founder Lucinda Creighton while she was a TD up to 2016.

Elected to the Dáil for the first time in last year’s general election, Geoghegan tells us that despite his prior experience, the role of a TD is, in some ways, pretty different to what he thought it would be.

Is life as a TD what you expected?

“Being a councillor, you would talk to everybody, of every political stripe. I didn’t know if the Oireachtas would be like that too, but for the most part, it is. There’s a level of respect that’s there [across party lines] that would have surprised me,” Geoghegan said.

“The system forces you to work together. It may sound trite, but there’s an Irish sense of community there that maybe isn’t in other political systems. I think it’s important that we hold on to that.”

He added: “Maybe it’s important that we do talk that up a little bit. There’s a lot of talk about how divisive politics is, but maybe it’s important that those who are in politics talk about what it’s like behind the scenes.”

Pit and peak

What has been his highlight of the Dáil term? 

Geoghegan’s highlight so far has been getting a piece of private members’ legislation, on compulsory purchase orders, past first stage in the Dáil. 

The law would consolidate existing CPO laws and reform how they work.

As Geoghegan describes it, it would also seek to offer “more of a carrot than a stick” approach by giving the landowner the payment for the property sooner in the process. 

What’s been the low point? 

“The lowlights are when you’re dealing with [constituents'] queries that no matter how much effort you make, you’re simply not going to resolve,” Geoghegan said. 

“I’ve dealt with queries from a child who is autistic and has been kicked out of a creche because they don’t have the necessary supports for that child. That’s clearly wrong.

“Maybe that mother or father are actually going to have to go to the courts to deal with something like that. That’s unbelievably upsetting and frustrating, that despite your efforts, you can’t solve it.” 

Geoghegan also pointed to constituents who come to him over issues with housing or access to health services.

“I’m also conscious that so often the TD’s office is the last port of call for people. They’ve exhausted every avenue, and in some cases, it might be people who just have no other place to go.

“So trying to manage that. And look, you get a lot of wins too, but trying to manage the disappointments, even for the staff who are working for you, that’s definitely challenging.

“So I think they’re the lowlights. There’s no question about it.”

Any surprises about being a TD?

“I’d probably go back to the same thing I said at the beginning. It does surprise me how well people of different political parties can actually work together,” Geoghegan said.

“So I’m on the all-party, Oireachtas Committee for Autism…We meet practically once every month, if not more.

Related Reads

Being a first-time TD: 'The hours are mad, if I finish at 9.30pm it feels like a half day'

Being a first-time TD: 'People are much nicer in the Dáil bar than they are in the chamber'

“There’s no cameras. It’s not in a public committee room.

“We bring in ministers, the key stakeholders, and on such a difficult issue, in terms of assessment of needs, school places, all the kind of stuff, whether you are Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, Labour, SocDems, People Before Profit, most of those parties are represented in that room at those meetings, and just try to actually deal with the issues in front of them.

“And I think if you talk to any of those people involved in the committee, they feel like in many ways, that’s some of the most valued work that they do. Perhaps more than the Punch and Judy stuff that happens in the set pieces, like Leaders’ Questions.”

Final musings

“One of the most important things you can do in this job, and it sounds so cliché, is recognise that you are new.

“You’re brand new to this chamber and there’s a lot of people in here that have lots of experience, and by listening, observing, watching, it can really make a difference to the work that you’re actually doing for the people who are calling your office.

“To my mind, that is the way you can be the most effective TD for the constituency you represent by building networks, building relationships, so that when a problem happens and they call you, you actually have some kind of a way to try and fix it.

“That’s my overall conclusion in the first term, come back to me in a few more,” Geoghegan said. 

Does he see being a TD as a career for life? 

“I don’t know yet, is the truth. I don’t imagine I’m going to be here when I’m 80, and I’m 40 now. I think you should do it as long as you still have the love for it.

“As long as you still love knocking on doors, listening to people’s problems, solving people’s problems, engaging with the local football club, the GAA club, the rugby club, the community.

“If you still love doing all of those things, then keep putting your hand up and keep running,” Geoghegan said.