LAST UPDATE | 13 Feb 2023

INDEPENDENT TD DENIS Naughten has announced that he will not contest the next general election, which is due in 2025.

Naughten has been an Independent TD for the Roscommon–Galway constituency since 2016.

From 2007 to 2016, Naughten was a TD for the Roscommon–South Leitrim constituency and from 1997 to 2007 he was a TD for the Longford–Roscommon constituency.

In a statement released tonight, Naughten said: “I have decided, for both personal and professional reasons, after giving 26 years of my life to national politics that now is the time to step back and explore new opportunities.

“I want to thank the people of counties Longford, Leitrim, Galway and Roscommon most sincerely for their support over the last quarter of a century. It has truly been an honour to represent the people from those counties in Dáil Éireann over that time,” he said. 

Naughten was a TD for Fine Gael until 2011. 

On 6 July 2011, he lost the party whip after voting against Fine Gael’s motions on cuts to emergency services at Roscommon Hospital. 

Following the 2016 general election, Naughten was appointed Minister for Communications. However, he resigned from the position on 11 October 2018 following a controversy over meetings he had with the lead bidder of Ireland’s national broadband plan. 

After his resignation, Leo Varadkar said Naughten left himself open to the preception of a conflict of interest. 

In his statement tonight, Naughten also thanked those who have canvassed with him over the years, along with the staff who have worked with him during the course of his career.

“I entered politics at a young age, in difficult circumstances, and it was always my intention to turn my hand to something outside politics. The time has now come for that to happen and to provide an opportunity for others to represent the people of this area in Dáil Éireann,” the TD said. 

Naughten said he “provided support to the Government as an Independent TD at a time when political stability was required, representing my country at international level as Minister, furthering our collective national ambition towards a lower carbon society by imaginative and progressive policies on behalf of all our people”.

“Since my initial election I have fought tirelessly for the improvement and delivery of our health services at both local and national level,” he said.

“Whilst protecting our local services was a condition of my support for the Government, the establishment of an all-party Committee on Health – which produced the first Sláintecare report, and which was the genesis of our current pathway – I believe will ultimately prove to be a key turning point in the delivery of a proper and responsive healthcare system in Ireland,” the TD added. 

“My achievement in ensuring the delivery of fibre optic broadband to every home in Ireland, something that I had worked on for over 15 years, is something that I regard as a significant step in improving access to the people of all local communities in Ireland that I was honoured to represent and serve.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said tonight that he wanted to “pay tribute to Denis Naughten for the enormous contribution he has made to politics nationally, and to his native county”.  

Varadkar said that “politics is full of ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments. It’s what you achieve along the way that matters most”.  

“I am absolutely convinced that the National Broadband Plan would not be a reality today were it not for Naughten’s work on it as Minister,” the Taoiseach said.