Seán Fleming

Seán Fleming (born 27 February 1958) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs since December 2022. He previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance from July 2020 to December 2022. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois–Offaly constituency since 2020, and previously from 1997 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2020 for the Laois constituency. He previously served as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee from 2016 to 2020.[1]

For other people named Sean Fleming, see Sean Fleming (disambiguation).

Seán Fleming
TD
Minister of State
2022–Foreign Affairs
2020–2022Finance
Chair of the Public Accounts Committee
In office
4 April 2016 – 15 July 2020
Preceded byJohn McGuinness
Succeeded byBrian Stanley
Teachta Dála
Assumed office
February 2020
In office
June 1997 – February 2016
ConstituencyLaois–Offaly
In office
February 2016 – February 2020
ConstituencyLaois
Personal details
Born (1958-02-01) 1 February 1958
Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
Mary Fleming
​
(m. 1992)​
Children1
Alma materUniversity College Dublin

Fleming is an accountant by profession. He was educated at University College Dublin. Fleming was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1997 general election and retained his seat at the 2002, 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2020 general elections.[2] He was formerly Financial Director of Fianna Fáil at national level.

He was elected at the 1999 local elections as a member of Laois County Council for the Borris-in-Ossory local electoral area.[2]

He served as Opposition Spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2011 to 2016. He was previously the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee from 2016 to 2020.

On 15 July 2020, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Finance, with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance.[3][4]

Fleming received criticism from opposition parties in February 2022 when, amid a 20 year high in inflation, he suggested that people should stop complaining about their finances, stating "[r]ather than just complaining and [asking] 'What's the Government going to do for me?', you can actually have a serious impact on your own finance, but it involves people having to do some work themselves."[5][6] He later apologised for his comments.[7]

In December 2022, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for International Development and Diaspora following the appointment of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach.[8]

References
  1. "Seán Fleming". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  2. "Seán Fleming". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  3. "Nomination of Member of Government: Motion – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil) – Wednesday, 14 July 2020". Houses of the Oireachtas. 15 July 2020. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. Finance (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2020 (S.I. No. 646 of 2020). Signed on 8 December 2020. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 4 January 2021.
  5. "Govt leaders meeting to discuss cost of living measures". RTE News. 7 February 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022.
  6. "Annual rate of inflation hits 20-year high, reaching 5.5% in December". RTE News. 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022.
  7. "Junior minister Seán Fleming apologises for 'out of touch' comments about cost of living". Irish Independent. 8 February 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022.
  8. "Minister of State appointments". gov.ie. Department of the Taoiseach. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
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