Alan Farrell

Alan Farrell (born 29 December 1977) is an Irish Fine Gael politician and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Fingal constituency. He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election. He was a member of Fingal County Council from 2004 to 2011 for the Howth-Malahide electoral area having been elected at his first attempt in June 2004 following a four-week campaign. He was re-elected at the 2009 local elections obtaining 12.3% of the first preference vote. Farrell was Deputy Mayor in 2005 and Mayor of Fingal from 2007 to 2008.
In the 31st Dail (2011 - 2016) Farrell was a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. He was also the chairperson of the Fine Gael Committee on Public Expenditure & Reform from 2011 - 2013 and the Fine Gael Committee on Justice, Defense & Equality from 2013 - 2016.
In 2013, Farrell was appointed Head of the Irish Delegation to the OSCE PA (Organisation for Security & Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly) by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD. Created in 1975 following the Helsinki Final Act, this organisation has over 300 parliamentarian from Vancouver to Vladivostok, encompassing 57 nations, including the United States, Canada & the Russian Federation.
In the 32nd Dail (2016 - present) Farrell is a member of the Public Account Committee and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice & Equality. Farrell was reappointed as Head of Delegation to the OSCE PA following the formation of Government.
Farrell was the subject of controversy after he hired his wife, Emma Doyle as his temporary parliamentary assistant for a period of four months in the Dáil. This was just two weeks after she was rejected by Farrell's Malahide Fine Gael Party branch as his replacement on Fingal County Council in 2011. Parliamentary assistants salaries range between €41,092 and €52,200 per year, which is paid for by the State.
In October 2013, he referred to singer Sinéad O'Connor as being "mad as a brush", in a tweet. He later issued a brief apology via his website and later deleted the apology.
Farrell ran successfully in the 2016 general election, coming third in the constituency behind Fianna Fáil's Darragh O'Brien and Independent TD Clare Daly, and ahead of Sinn Féin's Louise O'Reilly. He out-polled his Deputy Leader and Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, Fine Gael's James Reilly by a considerable margin. There were 14 other candidates.