Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

She studied Economics and Social Science at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 2002 with joint honours in Political Science and Business.{{cite web |url=https://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/alumni/notable-alumni/ |title=NOTABLE ALUMNI |website=www.tcd.ie |publisher=Trinity College Dublin |access-date=2 April 2022}} She later completed a PhD in public policy and Political Science at University College Dublin, with a thesis entitled Institutional Change in Judicial Selection Systems: Ireland in Comparative Perspective, which won the 2015 Basil Chubb Prize for best PhD thesis at an Irish university in 2014.{{Cite web|title=Basil Chubb prize|url=http://www.psai.ie/prizes/basil-chubb-prize/|access-date=24 March 2021|website=PSAI|language=en|archive-date=31 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231230538/http://www.psai.ie/prizes/basil-chubb-prize/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Institutional change in judicial selection systems : Ireland in comparative perspective| url=http://library.ucd.ie/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2089990?lang=eng |access-date=2 April 2022|website=library.ucd.ie| oclc=1292673883 }}

Carroll MacNeill was a policy advisor to Frances Fitzgerald from April 2011 until June 2013. She then worked for the then Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter from September 2013 until his resignation in May 2014. She subsequently took a break from politics, returning in October 2017 to advise Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy on the National Planning Framework and the creation of the Land Development Agency. She worked with Murphy's office until January 2019 when she left to work for a Public Relations firm.{{cite news |author= |title=YOUNG BLOOD: JENNIFER CARROLL MACNEILL |url=https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/young-blood-jennifer-carroll-macneill/ |work=The Phoenix |date=27 February 2020 |access-date=28 February 2020 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=28 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228185527/https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/young-blood-jennifer-carroll-macneill/ |url-status=live }}

In May 2019, she was elected to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council for the Killiney–Shankill local electoral area,{{cite web |url=https://www.dlrcoco.ie/sites/default/files/atoms/files/killiney_shankill_lea_overall_result.pdf |title=Local election – 24 May 2019 – Killiney–Shankill LEA |publisher=Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council |date=24 May 2019 |access-date=5 June 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603105705/https://www.dlrcoco.ie/sites/default/files/atoms/files/killiney_shankill_lea_overall_result.pdf |archive-date=3 June 2019}} a position she held until her election as a TD in February 2020.{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=11531|title=

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=21 October 2022}}

In early 2020, Carroll MacNeill was selected internally by the Dún Laoghaire branch of Fine Gael to replace Maria Bailey on the ticket for the 2020 general election, following "Swinggate", a controversy revolving around a dubious legal claim made by Bailey that resulted in her subsequent deselection. At the general election in February 2020, she was elected on the 8th count.{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/d%C3%BAn-laoghaire-results-green-s-smyth-overwhelmed-at-securing-seat-1.4165221 |title=Dún Laoghaire results: Green's Smyth 'overwhelmed' at securing seat |date=9 February 2020 |first=Olivia |last=Kelly |newspaper=Irish Times |location=Dublin |access-date=5 June 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210605182500/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/d%C3%BAn-laoghaire-results-green-s-smyth-overwhelmed-at-securing-seat-1.4165221 |archive-date=5 June 2021}}{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/election2020/dun-laoghaire |title=Election 2020: Dún Laoghaire |date=9 February 2020 |newspaper=Irish Times |location=Dublin |access-date=5 June 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210605183059/https://www.irishtimes.com/election2020/dun-laoghaire |archive-date=5 June 2021}} Frank McNamara was co-opted to Carroll MacNeill's seat on Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council following her election to the Dáil.{{cite tweet |user=dlrcc |number=1232044706781179908 |author=Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council |date=24 February 2020 |title=At a Special Council Meeting tonight, Councillors co-opted three new Councillors following vacancies created by the Dail elections |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210605195112/https://twitter.com/dlrcc/status/1232044706781179908 |archive-date=5 June 2021}}

In December 2020, 19-year-old Fine Gael member Dylan Hutchinson dropped his campaign for a council seat after being confronted on a Dublin beach by Jennifer Carroll MacNeill about an alleged derogatory social media post he made about a previous TD. Hutchinson was nominated as a candidate to fill a vacancy on Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council after Barry Ward was elected to the Seanad in April 2020.{{Cite news |last=Tutty |first=Sonja |title=Fine Gael council candidate Dylan Hutchinson confronted by Jennifer Carroll MacNeill over derogatory Snapchat post |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/fine-gael-council-candidate-dylan-hutchinson-confronted-by-jennifer-carroll-macneill-over-derogatory-snapchat-post-zh5vmg9hv |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908114252/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fine-gael-council-candidate-dylan-hutchinson-confronted-by-jennifer-carroll-macneill-over-derogatory-snapchat-post-zh5vmg9hv |archive-date=8 September 2021 |access-date=8 September 2021 |newspaper=The Times |language=en |issn=0140-0460}}

Carroll MacNeill was the Vice Chair of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party and Spokesperson for Equality. She was also Vice Chair of the Justice Committee as well as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Committee, the Gender Equality Committee and the Autism Committee and was also a member of the Special Dáil Committee on Covid prior to its disbandment into sectoral Committees.{{Cite web |last=Oireachtas |first=Houses of the |date=6 November 2024|title=Jennifer Carroll MacNeill – Houses of the Oireachtas |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08/ |access-date=27 November 2024|website=www.oireachtas.ie |language=en-ie}}{{Cite web|date=18 May 2021|access-date=20 November 2021|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint_committee_on_justice/2021-05-18/2 |language=en-ie |title=Joint Committee on Justice debate - Tuesday, 18 May 2021 |website=Oireachtas}}{{Cite web|date=7 October 2021|title=COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS debate - Thursday, 7 Oct 2021 |language=en-ie |website=Oireachtas.ie |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/committee_of_public_accounts/2021-10-07/5 |access-date=20 November 2021}}{{Cite web|date=1 June 2021|website=Oireachtas.ie|language=en-ie |title=Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement debate - Tuesday, 1 Jun 2021 |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint_committee_on_the_implementation_of_the_good_friday_agreement/2021-06-01/3|access-date=20 November 2021}}{{Cite web|date=29 September 2020|website=Oireachtas.ie |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/special_committee_on_covid_19_response/2020-09-29/2|access-date=20 November 2021|title=Special Committee on Covid-19 Response debate - Tuesday, 29 Sep 2020|language=en-ie}}

In December 2022, she was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance following the appointment of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/dd77e-minister-of-state-appointments/|title=Minister of State appointments|publisher=Department of the Taoiseach|website=gov.ie|date=21 December 2022|access-date=21 December 2022}}

In April 2024, she was appointed as Minister of State for European Affairs, after Simon Harris became Taoiseach.{{Cite web |last=Quann |first=Jack |title=Ireland needs to have 'pan-European defence conversation' - MacNeill |url=https://www.newstalk.com/news/ireland-needs-to-have-pan-european-defence-conversation-macneill-1714288 |access-date=10 April 2024|website=Newstalk |language=en}}

At the 2024 general election, Carroll MacNeill was re-elected to the Dáil. On 23 January 2025, Carroll MacNeill was appointed as Minister for Health in the government led by Micheál Martin.{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2025/0123/1492578-new-cabinet-in-full/|title=Cabinet list in full with number of promotions, changes|publisher=RTÉ News|first=Fiachra|last=Ó Cionnaith|date=23 January 2025|access-date=23 January 2025}} In a 2025 interview, she said that women politicians should not be held responsible for "everything related women", resisting questions about whether she would require the next Cabinet to have an equal number of men and women, stating this is "not how government operates".{{cite web|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/jennifer-carroll-macneill-women-politics-cabinet-equality-6594156-Jan2025/|title='That's not my fault': Minister pushes back on suggestion she could insist on gender-balanced Cabinet|work=The Journal|date=15 January 2025 |access-date=29 January 2025}}

Carroll MacNeill has been profiled several times by The Phoenix political magazine. The Phoenix has suggested that since become a TD in 2020, Carroll MacNeill has been openly positioning herself as a possible future leader of Fine Gael.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=12 January 2023 |title=Profile: Jennifer Carroll MacNeill |url=https://www.thephoenix.ie/article/profile-jennifer-carroll-macneill-2/ |work=The Phoenix |location= |access-date=12 January 2023}} The Phoenix has described Carroll MacNeill as fiscally conservative and being in favour of means-tested welfare payments as well as low taxes.

Carroll MacNeill has advocated for and highlighted the issues surrounding victims of domestic abuse, such as coercive control. She has been a long-term advocate for coercive control laws. She regularly handed out leaflets at the popular piers in Dun Laoghaire as a message to tell women that they were not alone and to tell perpetrators that this behavior was not acceptable.{{Cite web |date=28 November 2020|title=What is coercive control, how can you spot it and how can we change culture? - Extra.ie |url=https://extra.ie/2020/11/28/news/what-is-coercive-control |access-date=27 November 2024|language=en}} In her role as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for Credit Unions, Financial Services and Insurance, Carroll MacNeill wrote to the organisations to seek their input on a wider credit union bill regarding coercive financial control.{{Cite web |last=Loughlin |first=Elaine |date=23 February 2023|title=Credit unions could be used in fight against coercive control |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41078111.html |access-date=17 November 2024|website=Irish Examiner |language=en}} Carroll MacNeill said coercive control and domestic and gender-based violence must be treated as a whole-of-government issue.

Carroll MacNeill favours a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict; and was a member of both the Oireachtas Friends of Israel group and the Palestinian friendship group.{{Cite web |last=Finn |first=Christina |date=21 April 2024|title='I joined the Oireachtas Israeli and Palestinian friendship groups — but I'm no longer involved', says junior minister |url=https://www.thejournal.ie:443/article.php?id=6359255 |access-date=17 November 2024|website=TheJournal.ie |language=en}} Whilst Minister for European Affairs, she said Ireland recognising the State of Palestine would help move forward with the self-determination of the Palestinian people.{{Cite web |date=22 May 2024|title=Recognition will help move forward Palestinian self-determination - MacNeill |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/post/104441364/ |language=en}} She represented the Irish position at the European General Affairs Council meeting.{{Cite web |date=24 September 2024 |title=Minister Carroll MacNeill to attend meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC) in Brussels, 24 September |url=https://www.gov.ie/ga/preasraitis/35a95-minister-carroll-macneill-to-attend-meeting-of-the-general-affairs-council-gac-in-brussels-24-september/ |access-date=17 November 2024|website=www.gov.ie |language=ga}}

Caroll MacNeill favours secularism in education. In a 2024 Hot Press interview she stated that she opposed the Catholic Church's "Flourish" programme for primary schools, describing its content on topics like homosexuality as offensive and inappropriate for a secular education system. Advocating for a new curriculum, she emphasised the importance of teaching personhood, boundaries, and consent, independent of religious doctrine. In the same interview, Carroll MacNeill strongly criticised the Catholic Church for its handling of clerical child abuse scandals, calling their actions disgraceful and their cover-ups appalling. She insisted on full accountability, reparations, and transparency from the Church. Reflecting on her own sex education, she described it as inadequate and influenced by confusing religious frameworks. In July 2022 Carroll MacNeill criticised the pace of the reform of sex education for primary school students, suggesting things were being deliberately "slow-walked".{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Carl |date=3 July 2022 |title=Fine Gael TD calls for updated sex education at primary level to be expedited |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2022/07/03/fine-gael-td-calls-for-updated-sex-education-at-primary-level-to-be-expedited/ |access-date=12 January 2023 |newspaper=The Irish Times |location=}}

In April 2021, Carroll MacNeill appeared on the panel of the news discussion show The Tonight Show on Virgin Media Ireland. During and after the show, a number of comments on Twitter mocked Carroll MacNeill's physical appearance, which prompted Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane to push back and ask on Twitter "Surely you could make a political point without referring to a person’s appearance. Poor form". Carroll MacNeill thanked Cullinane for his intervention.{{cite news |last=McGrath |first=Graham |date=22 April 2021 |title=Sinn Fein TD defends Fine Gael's Jennifer Carroll MacNeill after she's trolled online for her appearance |url=https://extra.ie/2021/04/22/news/politics/fine-gael-td-appearance |work=Extra.ie |location= |access-date=12 January 2023}}

In 2022, Gerard Culhane of County Limerick was found guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of sexually harassing Carroll MacNeill, sending her 10 sexually explicit images and 3 sexually explicit videos, between December 2019 and March 2020, which overlapped with her 2020 general election campaign. On Christmas Day 2019, Culhane sent Carroll MacNeill an image of herself in a swimsuit accompanied by a sexually explicit text message, leading Carroll MacNeill to fear for her safety.{{cite news |last=Greaney |first=Frank |date=11 May 2022 |title=Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Online harassment left me in fear for first time |url=https://www.newstalk.com/news/jennifer-carroll-macneill-online-harassment-left-me-in-fear-for-first-time-1340958 |work=Newstalk |location= |access-date=12 January 2023}} Culhane was given a one-year suspended sentence and ordered to stay away from Leinster House as well as to never contact Carroll MacNeill again.{{cite news |last=McLean |first=Sonya |date=21 October 2022 |title=Limerick man who sent sexually explicit videos to TD gets suspended sentence |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40988843.html |work=Irish Examiner |location= |access-date=12 January 2023}}

In 2023, it emerged a second man had begun harassing Carroll MacNeill, once again prompting the involvement of the Garda Síochána. In the aftermath, the Gardaí issued general advice to all TDs about their personal safety.{{cite news |last=Phelan |first=Ciara |date=9 January 2023 |title=Politicians advised to avoid leaving or returning home at exactly the same times |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41044268.html |work=The Irish Examiner |location= |access-date=12 January 2023}}

Carroll MacNeill is the author of The Politics of Judicial Selection in Ireland, published in 2016 by the Four Courts Press.{{Cite book|last=MacNeill|first=Jennifer Carroll|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3y5njwEACAAJ|title=The Politics of Judicial Selection in Ireland|date=2016|publisher=Four Courts Press|isbn=978-1-84682-597-2|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=The Politics of Judicial Selection in Ireland by Jennifer Carroll MacNeill - Irish Interest - Find Books From or About Ireland|url=https://www.irishinterest.ie/book/?id=2652/|access-date=2 June 2020|website=www.irishinterest.ie}}{{Cite web|last=Ward|first=James|date=27 June 2017|title=Senior barrister welcomes Judicial Appointments Bill|url=http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/its-improving-process-senior-barrister-10698995|access-date=2 June 2020|website=irishmirror|archive-date=21 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121174356/http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/its-improving-process-senior-barrister-10698995|url-status=live}} Her thesis was given an academic award before being published as a book.{{Cite web|title='I've slept in every hospital corner, caring for my son' - Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the FG replacement for Maria Bailey|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/ive-slept-in-every-hospital-corner-caring-for-my-son-jennifer-carroll-macneill-the-fg-replacement-for-maria-bailey-38763522.html|access-date=2 June 2020|website=independent|date=8 December 2019 |language=en|archive-date=29 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229163521/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/ive-slept-in-every-hospital-corner-caring-for-my-son-jennifer-carroll-macneill-the-fg-replacement-for-maria-bailey-38763522.html|url-status=live}} David Gwynn Morgan of The Irish Times said of it; "this book by an author of unusual but apt pedigree packs in a lot of new, useful information in a field crying out for it. It is also timely and so is likely to be influential".{{Cite news|title=The Politics of Judicial Selection in Ireland review: thorough and fair|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-politics-of-judicial-selection-in-ireland-review-thorough-and-fair-1.2675492|access-date=2 June 2020|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029230022/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-politics-of-judicial-selection-in-ireland-review-thorough-and-fair-1.2675492|url-status=live}}

She is married to former Irish rugby player Hugo MacNeill, the former managing director of Goldman Sachs Investment Banking in Ireland. The couple have one son.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/maria-baileys-substitute-who-is-jennifer-carroll-macneill-38694003.html|title=Maria Bailey's substitute: who is Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill?|website=independent|date=14 November 2019 |access-date=11 February 2020|archive-date=11 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411020910/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/maria-baileys-substitute-who-is-jennifer-carroll-macneill-38694003.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last=O'Toole|first=Jason|date=24 May 2024 |title=Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: "I'm not going to fit into somebody else's artificially constructed culture war"|url=https://www.hotpress.com/opinion/jennifer-carroll-macneill-im-not-going-to-fit-into-somebody-elses-artificially-constructed-culture-war-23026126|magazine=Hot Press|access-date=27 November 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/from-playing-with-aslan-to-fine-gael-legal-eagle-and-now-health-minister-is-jennifer-carroll-macneill-on-path-to-taoiseachs-office/a1061982014.html|title=From playing with Aslan to Fine Gael legal eagle and now Health Minister, is Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on path to taoiseach's office?|website=Irish Independent|date=24 January 2025|access-date=29 January 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/europe-minister-jennifer-carroll-macneill-opens-up-on-taoiseach-ambitions-harassment-of-tds-and-the-cannabis-question/a1341707779.htmll|title=Europe minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill opens up on taoiseach ambitions, harassment of TDs, and… the cannabis question|website=Irish Independent|date=10 May 2025|access-date=29 January 2025}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.finegael.ie/our-people/tds/dublin/dun-laoghaire/jennifer-carroll-macneill/ Jennifer Carroll MacNeill's page on the Fine Gael website]

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{{s-ttl|title = Minister of State at the Department of Finance

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{{s-bef|before = Peter Burke}}

{{s-ttl|title = Minister of State for European Affairs

|years = 2024–2025}}

{{s-aft|after = Thomas Byrne}}

{{s-bef|before = Stephen Donnelly}}

{{s-ttl|title = Minister for Health

|years = 2025–present}}

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{{Current Government of Ireland}}

{{Current TDs}}

{{35th Government of Ireland}}

{{Ministers for Health of Ireland}}

{{Dún Laoghaire (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}

{{Fine Gael}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer}}

Category:1980 births

Category:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin

Category:Alumni of University College Dublin

Category:Living people

Category:Members of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Council

Category:Members of the 33rd Dáil

Category:Fine Gael TDs

Category:21st-century women Teachtaí Dála

Category:Ministers of State of the 33rd Dáil

Category:Women ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland

Category:Fine Gael local councillors

Category:Members of the 34th Dáil

Category:Women government ministers of the Republic of Ireland

Category:Ministers for health of Ireland