Mary Butler (politician)
Mary Butler is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála for the Waterford constituency since the 2016 general election. She was appointed Chair of the Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in April 2016.
She is also Fianna Fáil junior Spokesperson for Older People and Chair of Oireachtas Cross Party group on Dementia. She had been a member of Waterford City and County Council from 2014 to 2016.
She called for a No vote in the 2018 referendum on Abortion.
Butler had former Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Kenneally involved in canvassing for her ahead of the 2016 general election, at which she was first elected to Dáil Éireann. A cousin of Kenneally's was convicted of 1980s sexual abuse of boys, and Kenneally had previously acknowledged that he had been aware of his cousin's crimes before his sentencing to 14 years imprisonment. Butler received criticism for Kenneally's involvement in her 2016 campaign. However, four years later, she again had Keneally canvass for her ahead of the 2020 general election. Kenneally's canvassing for Mary Butler in 2020 became public knowledge when it emerged that he had visited the homes of some of those who had been abused to seek their votes. There was an additional issue over a laughing emoji seen under a comment left by one of those abused by Keaneally on Butler's Facebook account. It also emerged that Butler was renting her constituency office from Kenneally, and when it did so, she stated that she would move elsewhere.
