Ireland: Parliament, 26 February 2016

At stake in this election:

• 166 seats in Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Michael D. HIGGINS (since 11 November 2011)
• Head of Government: Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda KENNY (since March 2011)
• Assembly: Ireland has a bicameral Parliament (Oireachtas) that consists of the Senate (Seanad Éireann) with 60 seats and the Parliament (Dail Éireann) with 166 seats.[1]

Description of electoral system:

• All 158 members of Dail Éireann are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by single-transferable vote to 5-year terms. The district magnitude of constituencies ranges from 3 to 5.

Last Election:

• In the 2011 parliamentary election, Fine Gael took the most seats with 76, but did not secure a majority. The traditionally strong Fianna Fáil party and took 20 seats. The Labour Party took 37 seats and Sinn Féin took 14. Additionally, several other parties and independents earned seats.

Main parties in the election:

• United Ireland/Fine Gael
  • Leader: Enda KENNY
  • Seats won in last election: 76
• Labour Party/Páirtí an Lucht Oibre
  • Leader: Joan BURTO
  • Seats won in last election: 37

• Republican Party/Fianna Fáil
  • Leader: Michael MARTIN
  • Seats won in last election: 20
• We Ourselves/Sinn Féin 
  • Leader: Gerry ADAMS
  • Seats won in last election: 14
• Socialist Party
  • Leader: Collective Leadership
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• People Before Profit Alliance[2]
  • Leader: Collective Leadership
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Green Party / Comhaontas Glas
  • Leader: Eomon RYAN
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Renua Ireland
  • Leader: Lucinda CREIGHTON
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Independents
  • Seats won in last election: 15

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 4,892,305 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 3,202,442 (2011)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,448,391

·         Is Ireland a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Ireland ratified CEDAW: Yes, Accession (23 December 1985)

·         Gender Quota: Yes (Parliament)

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 43 (19.03%)[3]

·         Human Development Index Position: 6

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Ireland a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Ireland ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 733,846