Fianna Fáil’s Mary Butler (58), who has retained her seat in the 2024 general election, was first elected to the Dáil in 2016 and has been Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People since July 2020. She previously served as chair of the Oireachtas committee on jobs, enterprise and innovation from 2016 to 2020.

From Portlaw, Co Waterford, she is married to Michael, and they have three children. Speculation that her seat was in danger proved to be incorrect as she polled strongly in rural areas of east Waterford and in Waterford city.

When in opposition, she was the Fianna Fáil junior spokeswoman for older people and chair of an Oireachtas cross-party group on dementia. She was a member of Waterford City and County Council from 2014 to 2016.

She opposed legalising abortion in Ireland, calling for a No vote in the 2018 referendum, and co-organised an event calling for a No vote. She put forward a Bill in 2018 to ban tattoos and intimate piercings for people under the age of 18; this Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil.

During her term as Minister of State, she campaigned strongly for improved coronary care services in the southeast and at University Hospital Waterford in particular.