Profile of Paul Gogarty as a politician
First elected to Dáil Eireann in May 2002 and returned in May 2007, Paul Gogarty TD represented the constituency of Dublin Mid West until the general election of February 2011.Paul first joined the Green Party in 1989 and since that time was active on many issues locally including the promotion of school places, community facilities and public transport. He was elected to South Dublin County Council in 1999 (topping the poll in the Lucan, Palmerstown and Quarryvale area). During his time on the Council he fought tirelessly on behalf of local communities still suffering from the consequences of bad planning decisions made by other political parties.
Paul Gogarty's former constituency of Dublin Mid West includes the large population areas of Clondalkin and Lucan as well as towns and villages such as Brittas, Newcastle, Palmerstown, Rathcoole and Saggart. During his tenure, Paul Paul was the Green Party's Spokesperson on Education and Science; Sport; and Dublin. For three years 2007-2010 he was Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills. He resigned this position the day after the Green Party announced that it would shortly be leaving Government, as soon as necessary budgetary decisions were passed in the Dáil.
This early forfeit of part of his salary was in line with his call in 2002, 2003 and 2008 for pay cuts for TDs, Senators and Ministers. As a Green TD he signed a pledge which meant that the statutory maximum allowable part of his salary, approx €6,300 per annum was donated to the party and not spent personally. The Green Party and all its elected representatives did not seek nor accept corporate donations from developers, speculators, businesses, trade unions or any other vested interests. This was in contrast with the policy of large scale receipts of such monies by all the major political parties, notably Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Paul Gogarty as an activist, Councillor and TD was instrumental in protecting some of the lands along the Liffey Valley from speculators and pushed far harder than other public representatives to ensure that the new town of Adamstown will be developed in a sustainable manner, with sufficient infrastructure and facilities provided in tandem with housing.
In line with the Green Party's policy on double jobbing, he resigned his Council seat in 2002, co-opting the late Cllr Fintan McCarthy, who was subsequently elected in his own right in the 2004 local elections. His constituency office built up a reputation for an effective and discreet response to issues of concern.
As a TD, Paul supported community groups throughout the constituency on a range of local issues, including CE cutbacks, planning applications and the healthcare system. His motto was "Not Just at Election Time" and he regularly distributed newsletters in built up areas outlining his work on behalf of the community. Notable campaigns include protecting the Liffey Valley at St Edmundsbury from housing development, seeking funding for urgent school refurbishments in Palmerstown, North Clondalkin, Lucan and elsewhere as well as progressing the development of new school projects.
His most notable achievement nationally was to secure the reversal of a significant number education cuts made in 2008 in the following year's budget. He also played a key role in ensuring that educational funding was prioritised during a two year period that saw the biggest public expenditure cuts in living memory. This work was recognised by all of the teaching unions as well as many other education partners. He remains a strong advocate for educational investment maintaining that it will save the country money in the medium term and lead to a fairer, more integrated society, as as create new job opportunities.
