I was born in 1961, am married to Orla O’ Brien from Raheny and have four children, three boys and one girl. I am the son of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey and a grandson of former Taoiseach Seán Lemass.

Having always lived on Dublin’s northside, I attended St. Paul’s College in Raheny before completing a B.A. degree in Economics and Politics in Trinity College Dublin.

As a full time public representative I was first elected for the Artane Electoral Area as a City Councillor (1985 – 2003) and later to Seanad Eireann, (1987 – 1992) before entering Dáil Eireann in 1992, on my third attempt. Dublin North Central has returned me as a T.D. at each subsequent general election.

I have always taken an active interest in local affairs and have served on various local bodies most recently on the boards of Beaumont Hospital, the Orthopaedic Hospital in Clontarf, St. Vincent’s Hospital in Fairview and the Northside Partnership Limited. I am committed to the preservation of Dublin Bay as an amenity for all.

As the youngest ever Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1989/90 I was instrumental in initiating proposals for the re-development of Temple Bar as a cultural quarter and the promotion of the scheme to pedestrianise City Centre streets.

I have represented Fianna Fail nationwide as National Chairman of Ogra Fianna Fáil and as a member of the National Executive of the party.

Between 2004 – 2006 I was the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government and in that capacity voiced my opposition to the proposed M3 motorway through Tara.

I am a Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills since 2006 and have special responsibility for Lifelong Learning, Educational Disadvantage and School Transport.

My priority is the implementation of the National Skills Strategy so that comprehensive upskilling and re-skilling opportunities are available for our workforce, including the unemployed, to ensure that we have a well-educated and highly skilled population, contributing to a competitive, innovation driven, knowledge based, and inclusive economy.

I have also commenced an evaluation of the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) Programme with a view to preparing a new framework to tackle the problem of disadvantage in our schools.

Finally, in January 2009 I initiated the first comprehensive value-for-money review of the School Transport Scheme since the 1960s.