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James Lawless
James Lawless (born 19 August 1976[citation needed]) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science since January 2025. He served as a Minister of State from 2024 to 2025. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Kildare North since the 2016 general election.[1] CareerHe was a member of Kildare County Council from 2014 to 2016.[2] He topped the poll in the 2014 local elections with 2,123 votes and had contested the 2009 local elections in the same area, unsuccessfully.[3] While a member of Kildare County Council, he served as Mayor of Naas. He is a qualified barrister and also has degree in mathematics and a masters in high performance computing from Trinity College Dublin. He worked as a systems analyst in his early career. In May 2016, he was appointed by the party leader Micheál Martin as Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Science, Technology, Research and Development. He was a member of the Energy and Communications Oireachtas Committee, and in February 2017, he was elected as Vice-Chair of that Committee. In February 2018, he was appointed a member of the Business, Enterprise and Innovation Oireachtas committee. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on Justice in September 2020. On 27 June 2024, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Transport with responsibility for International and Road Transport and Logistics; and also as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with responsibility for Postal Policy.[4] On 23 January 2025, Lawless was appointed as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in the government led by Micheál Martin, following the 2024 general election.[5] References
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