| Incumbent: | Lisa Chambers |
| Post: | Leader of the Seanad |
| Incumbentsince: | 17 December 2022 |
The Leader of the Seanad (referred to within the Seanad as Leader of the House Irish: Treoraí an Tí) is a member of Seanad Éireann appointed by the Taoiseach to direct government business.[1] [2] Since December 2022, the incumbent is Lisa Chambers of Fianna Fáil. The deputy leader of the Seanad is Seán Kyne of Fine Gael.
The Leader plays a similar role in the Seanad's procedure to that played by the Taoiseach in Dáil Éireann:[3]
In the Seanad of the Irish Free State, there was no separate position of Leader.[1] The order of business was controlled by the Cathaoirleach (chair).[1] This was a symptom of the Seanad's independence from the Executive Council (government), which annoyed Éamon de Valera as President of the Executive Council.[1] De Valera's Fianna Fáil government secured the abolition of the Seanad in 1936.[1]
De Valera's 1937 Constitution created a new Seanad with less independence from the Dáil. The standing orders of the new Seanad provided for the role of Leader to control the flow of business from the government.[3] [1] A 2004 Seanad report into reforming its own functions recommended that the Leader be allowed to attend cabinet meetings, with a rank of minister or minister of state.[1] [4] Maurice Manning noted in 2010 that recent Leaders had more influence with the government, leading to increased input by the Seanad into legislation.[1]
| Name | Term of office | Party | Governments | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Quirke[5] | 1938 | 1948 | 2nd, 3rd, 4th | |||
| Michael Hayes | 1948 | 1951 | 5th | |||
| William Quirke | 1951 | 1954 | 6th | |||
| Michael Hayes | 1954 | 1957 | 7th | |||
| Thomas Mullins | 1957 | 1973 | 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th | |||
| 1 June 1973 | 27 October 1977 | 14th | ||||
| Eoin Ryan Snr | 27 October 1977 | 8 October 1981 | 15th, 16th | |||
| Gemma Hussey | 8 October 1981 | February 1982 | 17th | Vacated Leadership and Seanad seat upon election to Dáil. | ||
| Eoin Ryan Snr | 26 March 1982 | 18th | ||||
| James Dooge | 3 April 1987 | 19th | ||||
| Mick Lanigan | 3 April 1987 | 16 May 1990 | 20th, 21st | Resigned as Leader after Fianna Fáil lost a series of votes while all its senators were absent. | ||
| Seán Fallon | 16 May 1990 | 23 January 1992 | Vacated Leadership upon being elected Cathaoirleach to replace Seán Doherty | |||
| G. V. Wright | 23 January 1992 | 20 December 1994 | 21st, 22nd, 23rd | The 21st government ended when Charles Haughey resigned as Taoiseach, seven days after Doherty's resignation as Cathaoirleach over the same controversy. | ||
| Maurice Manning | 20 December 1994 | 17 September 1997 | 24th | |||
| Donie Cassidy | 17 September 1997 | May 2002 | 25th | Vacated Leadership and Seanad seat upon election to Dáil. | ||
| Mary O'Rourke | 26 June 2002 | May 2007 | 26th | Vacated Leadership and Seanad seat upon election to Dáil. | ||
| Donie Cassidy | 3 July 2007 | 25 May 2011 | 27th, 28th | |||
| Maurice Cummins | 25 May 2011 | 8 June 2016 | 29th | |||
| Jerry Buttimer | 8 June 2016 | 27 June 2020 | 30th, 31st | |||
| Regina Doherty | 27 June 2020 | 17 December 2022 | 32nd | |||
| Lisa Chambers | 17 December 2022 | Incumbent | 33rd, 34th | |||