Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Bernard Allen has become the latest politician to announce he will not contest the next general election.
Mr Allen said he reached his decision after consulting with his family and friends.
In a statement, he said he made the decision with “great reluctance” especially at a time when “I am convinced that the Irish people will give Enda Kenny and the Fine Gael Party a strong mandate to lead this country out of the mire that it is in”.
Mr Allen is one of Fine Gael’s longest serving TDs and was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1981.
A former Lord Mayor of Cork, he has also served as minister of state at the Departments of Education and Environment.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he understood Mr Allen’s decision and thanked him for his “exemplary public service over many years”.
“I would like to wish Bernard, his wife Marie, and all his family nothing but the best in the years ahead,” Mr Kenny said.
Some 29 TDs, including Mr Allen, have either stepped down or will not contest the forthcoming general election.
The 15 Fianna Fáil deputies are: Seán Ardagh; Bertie Ahern (former taoiseach); Dermot Ahern (Minister for Justice); Martin Cullen (former minister for arts, sport and tourism, who resigned last March); Noel Dempsey (Minister for Transport); Tony Killeen (Minister for Defence); Michael Finneran (Minister of State for Housing); Beverley Flynn; Tom Kitt; Dr James McDaid (resigned last November); MJ Nolan; Dr Rory O’Hanlon; Dr Michael Woods, Mary Wallace and Jimmy Devins.
The eight Fine Gael deputies who are stepping down are: Ulick Burke; Paul Connaughton; Seymour Crawford; Olwyn Enright; Pádraic McCormack; Jim O’Keeffe, Bernard Allen and PJ Sheehan.
The four Labour TDs are Michael D Higgins, Liz McManus, Mary Upton and Brian O’Shea while Sinn Féin’s Arthur Morgan and Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae have also confirmed they will retire.
