TDs professions

lmtduffy

Hi,

Does any know where I can find any data that shows the occupation background of the Tds in the current Dail?

Much appreciated

REPSOC1916

lmtduffy wrote: »

Hi,

Does any know where I can find any data that shows the occupation background of the Tds in the current Dail?

Much appreciated

I think it's given on the Oireachtas website. Otherwise your best bet is wikipedia lol.

Permabear

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mike65

Mainly the above. AFAIK the teacher TDs are to a man and woman "on leave" so the position they left vacent is not ever going to be filled on a permenant contract basis.

goose2005

mike65 wrote: »

Mainly the above. AFAIK the teacher TDs are to a man and woman "on leave" so the position they left vacent is not ever going to be filled on a permenant contract basis.

Not only that, but they build up pension entitlements. Enda Kenny only taught for three years in the 70's.

There are also a lot of doctors (Varadkar, Reilly, etc)

lmtduffy

I kinda know what to expect, but I need something I can use for a presentation, but may just settle for analysing the cabinet, unless some one has found something I havent.

Thanks for your help so far

FreudianSlippers

I never understand why we elect people so woefully under qualified for the positions. What does a teacher know about being minister for health, finance, etc.?

imme

Here you go http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=30&disp=mem

Yes you could try Wikip of course. As well you might have a look for Nealons Guide to the Oireachtas, it's published by the Irish Times after every Gen Election. It's a worthwhile investment, it gives short biog of those elected, how many votes garnered and where transfers went.

It's true to say that in the past there was a preponderance of solicitors, teachers/lecturers, GP's/medical doctors, auctioneers (partic rural TD's) among the professions of TD's. I guess this is because solicitors and auctioneers are bullsh*t artists, sorry people persons.

imme

OisinT wrote: »

I never understand why we elect people so woefully under qualified for the positions. What does a teacher know about being minister for health, finance, etc.?

We elect from the people who put themselves forward for election. If there aren't any rocket scientits or brain surgeons in that pool then we can't elect them, can we.
teachers are people too you know. Should we fill all cabinet posts with people from the background that thye're in charge of? Maybe they're no good at their former profession, you could have the worst doctor as minister for health.
That said the Min for Finance often comes from a numbers background, accountant, economist etc. Usually. Cowen and Lenihan are recent exceptions.

Permabear

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Red Alert

The engineering profession is hugely underrepresented in politics, despite the analytical and problem skills that engineers generally have.

Frogeye

Engineers like to solve problems. They want to solve problems. Politics isn't about solving problems. Its about talking about problems. Engineers are too busy actually doing stuff to get into politics and even if they did, I doubt people would like their analytical style of problem solving using reason and logic. Far better to run the country on whims, knee jerk reactions, Dan Boyles tweets and red top headlines.

I think we need a quota system. Engineers are underrepresented in the Dail.I would guess that there less engineers than there are women. If the birds are getting in on a quota, I think the engineers should too!

The glass isn't half full or half empty....its twice as big as it needs to be.

Frogeye.

Corsendonk

donegalfella wrote: »

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I tried that myself but not as good as you think. Alot of TDs have it blank, Trevor Sargent was a teacher but no occupation listed and alot more like that.

Corsendonk

OisinT wrote: »

I never understand why we elect people so woefully under qualified for the positions. What does a teacher know about being minister for health, finance, etc.?

Teachers is an ideal launching platform for td, wide interaction with all forms of the local community so you end up with alot of them in the Dail. That said imagine if we had a banker as Minister of Finance, doubt that would go down well.

Riskymove

thi9s is an old article I posted before

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2002/06/02/story176195628.asp


I don't know how much has changed but probably very little

Riskymove

Corsendonk wrote: »

Teachers is an ideal launching platform for td, wide interaction with all forms of the local community so you end up with alot of them in the Dail.

indeed and a Doctor and solicitor is similar, especially in smallish towns


they also have in common the ability to take years off or pass over a practice to a stand in etc

oppenheimer1

Red Alert wrote: »

The engineering profession is hugely underrepresented in politics, despite the analytical and problem skills that engineers generally have.

Engineers are typically incredibly poor communicators though.

Corsendonk

Not to forget the high number of Dail members that follow there mother or father into the Dail and typically many had the same family profession. Anyway they could argue the point that they have an expert team of civil servants advising them for each department and certain ministerial jobs are appointed to TDs with a constituency interest/local knowledge such as fisheries etc

goose2005

OisinT wrote: »

I never understand why we elect people so woefully under qualified for the positions. What does a teacher know about being minister for health, finance, etc.?

But they are of noble blood, which is the most important thing. Cf. my TD Aine Brady - brother of Michael Kitt, husband of Gerry Brady - primary teacher for about 30 yrs, then sent to the Dáil and bizarrely made minister of state for older people, despite having no relevant experience whatsoever.

murphaph

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Engineers are typically incredibly poor communicators though.

Whereas teachers (Enda Kenny) and solicitors (Brian Cowen) make wonderful ones? Cop on.

I thought engineers are less likely to become politicians as they are trained to think in absolutes - something works or it doesn't, it's safe or it isn't.

They aren't comfortable with the shades of gray in politics.

T runner

donegalfella wrote: »

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men.........

Byron85

Lenihan has a Law Degree from Cambridge and lectured in Trinity. Why he's in finance god knows.

ILA

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

They seem to be all that have the time/neck for politics. I'm always amazed how the unemployed, even the deceased, are shockingly underrepresented in our national parliament as they have no shortage of spare time for canvassing and making representations.

FreudianSlippers

murphaph wrote: »

Whereas teachers (Enda Kenny) and solicitors (Brian Cowen) make wonderful ones? Cop on.

I know plenty of thick solicitors.

Barristers on the other hand = all geniuses

FreudianSlippers

Byron85 wrote: »

Lenihan has a Law Degree from Cambridge and lectured in Trinity. Why he's in finance god knows.

I don't think he's BAD in finance. At the end of the day he and the banks followed a generally approved practice established in the US of subprime lending, double mortgages, no down payments, etc. and it backfired.
Ought people to have known and questioned it? YES! Many did.

But the bubble never looked like it was going to burst. It did, and a while ago now.
Recession is over - it's time to stop playing the blame game and start figuring out who we need to elect and what we need to do to start recovery.

Sitting about pointing the finger and crying is not going to get us back in the black.

(not saying anyone in this thread is sitting about and crying - just that the general population is)

Corsendonk

goose2005 wrote: »

But they are of noble blood, which is the most important thing. Cf. my TD Aine Brady - brother of Michael Kitt, husband of Gerry Brady - primary teacher for about 30 yrs, then sent to the Dáil and bizarrely made minister of state for older people, despite having no relevant experience whatsoever.

She is listed in the members interests as a retired teacher. There you go!

In fairness FF might have started with 77 tds but if you went down the list and crossed out the loons and those that had a crack at minister jobs before and didn't work out you have a pretty small pool of talents to pick from so if the person is capable and a good communicator they usually get the top jobs even in areas they know very little about.

ressem

Deleted User wrote: »

I thought engineers are less likely to become politicians as they are trained to think in absolutes - something works or it doesn't, it's safe or it isn't.

They aren't comfortable with the shades of gray in politics.

I think you're describing the opposite of an engineer.
Balancing weight, cost, material properties, complexity, environmental factors; choosing the most feasible designs and explaining them to the customer.

How about to start with, we get politicians to adopt the
http://www.iei.ie/media/engineersireland/aboutus/governance/codesandbyelaws/Engineers%20Ireland%20-%20Code%20Of%20Ethics%202010.pdf
as 'social engineers'. We might get most thrown out within 15 days as it's more demanding than the oireachtas equivalent.

Arrange appropriate insurance cover in respect of
professional indemnity together with statutory
insurances.

might eat most of their salary though.

BehindTheScenes

OisinT wrote: »

I never understand why we elect people so woefully under qualified for the positions. What does a teacher know about being minister for health, finance, etc.?

I'd say the list system is the answer to this but it all depends on who the elite install to these positions. Could you imagine if the gov. installed Padraig O’Ceidigh. I'd say the chances are he could improve the system.

OisinT wrote: »

I don't think he's BAD in finance. At the end of the day he and the banks followed a generally approved practice established in the US of subprime lending, double mortgages, no down payments, etc. and it backfired.
Ought people to have known and questioned it? YES! Many did.

But the bubble never looked like it was going to burst. It did, and a while ago now.
Recession is over - it's time to stop playing the blame game and start figuring out who we need to elect and what we need to do to start recovery.

Sitting about pointing the finger and crying is not going to get us back in the black.

(not saying anyone in this thread is sitting about and crying - just that the general population is)

Are you serious about the first half of that point, I agree with the second half but until unemployment decreases the recession in real terms is anything but over.

FreudianSlippers

The global recession is over, we're holding on to it like it's some crutch for not having a policy of economic reconstruction. If we don't do something TODAY we may see double-dip recession before the end of the year.