Case Study - Politician

Name: M.J. Nolan  
Job: Fianna Fáil TD (www.mjnolan.ie)

My job title is T.D./Deputy; this involves me spending three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Dublin (Leinster House) for Dáil sittings and Committee work. Two days a week I work from my Constituency office (Monday/Friday) where I deal with constituency matters.

I attended national school in Bagenalstown, (De La Salle) and secondary school in Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co Tipperary.

Dealing with the public on a daily basis and assisting them in their needs, be it in the form of advice or giving assistance with difficulties they are encountering would account for up to 70 per cent of a public representative’s work. There is a lot of personal satisfaction to be gained in assisting, helping and advising individuals or families when they seek your assistance.

The remainder of my work is made up of preparing and dealing with legislation in relation to my work as chairman of the committee for Arts, Sports, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

One of the major downsides of the profession is the long hours and the amount of time one has to spend away from home and family, particularly if ones constituency is not within commuting distance of Leinster House.

There are no set working hours or indeed working days and a public representative tends to be on-duty and on-call 24/7. As chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Sports, Tourism, Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs a large part of my work in Leinster House is taken up with dealing with issues related to Art, Sport and Tourism in particular.

Over the past fifteen years working conditions, backup support and services have improved significantly for members of the Oireachtas and I believe that the public are getting a better service from their elected representatives as a result of this.