Niall Collins | |
|---|---|
 Collins in 2016 | |
| Minister of State | |
| 2025– | Justice, Home Affairs and Migration |
| 2020–2025 | Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office February 2016 | |
| Constituency | Limerick County |
| In office February 2011 – February 2016 | |
| Constituency | Limerick |
| In office May 2007 – February 2011 | |
| Constituency | Limerick West |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1973-03-30)30 March 1973 (age 52) Limerick, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse | |
| Relations |
|
| Children | 2 |
| Education | St Munchin's College |
| Alma mater | Limerick Institute of Technology |
| Website | niallcollinstd |
Niall Collins (born 30 March 1973) is an IrishFianna Fáil politician who has served as aMinister for State since July 2020. He has been aTeachta Dála (TD) for theLimerick County constituency since2016, and from 2011 to 2016 for theLimerick constituency and from 2007 to 2011 for theLimerick West constituency.[1]
Collins served as a member ofLimerick County Council for theBruff Local electoral area, being first elected to the council at the2004 local elections.[2]
Collins was first elected toDáil Éireann at the2007 general election for Limerick West. He was elected on the first count, and the highest vote of any of the newcomers to the30th Dáil. His grandfatherJames Collins represented Limerick West in the Dáil from 1948 until 1967. His uncleGerry Collins is a former Minister andMEP, who was a TD for Limerick West from 1967 to 1997. Another uncle,Michael J. Collins, sat for Limerick West in the Dáil from 1997 until he retired in 2007.
He has served in variousFianna Fáil Front Bench roles, he has served asOpposition spokesperson forJustice and Equality from 2011 to 2016, Opposition Spokesperson forJobs, Enterprise and Innovation from May 2016 to March 2018 and Opposition Spokesperson forForeign Affairs and Trade from March 2018 to June 2020.
Collins was appointedMinister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science with responsibility for Skills and Further Education in July 2020.
He was re-elected at the2024 general election. On 29 January 2025, he was appointed asMinister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration with special responsibility for international law, law reform and youth justice.[3]
In February 2023, political news websiteThe Ditch published a story claiming that Collins had misledLimerick County Council about his place of residence in a 2001 planning application.[4] While not addressing the question of stated residence, Collins said he was "entirely satisfied" that his planning application was valid, and that he met the correct planning criteria applicable at the time.[5] He told the Dáil that the article inThe Ditch was "misleading and inaccurate".[5] The TánaisteMicheál Martin defended Collins, saying that he was entitled to seek planning permission.[6]
In April 2023, a further investigation by The Ditch found publicly available information that showed that Collins's wife, Eimear O'Connor, a GP, requested to buy land from Limerick County Council in 2006.[7] Following a motion by fellow Fianna Fáil councillor Leonard Enright, Niall Collins voted at a local area committee meeting in favour of selling the land. The sale to O'Connor was formally approved in 2008 at a meeting of Limerick County Council, for which the minutes included "The disposal of this site was agreed by the members of the Bruff Electoral Area at the meeting held in January 2007", in which Collins had participated;[8] Collins had been elected TD in May 2007 while the sales process was proceeding.[9] Under the Local Government Act, 2001, a county or city councillor is prohibited from voting when "where he or she has actual knowledge that he or she or a connected person has a pecuniary or other beneficial interest in, or which is material to, the matter".[10] In December 2007, Eimar O'Connor sought planning permission to build a medical centre and offices on the land, which she had yet to purchase. This permission was given despite objections from local residents, who said in a letter "local school children in the nearby primary school regularly use this green space". O'Connor became owner of the land in January 2009. Trees and hedging were cut down, and the site left vacant for the following decade.[11] In April 2020, an email was sent to the County Council looking to discuss selling social housing to the Council.[7] Further to this, a planning consultant had claimed that Collins was the owner of the land, a claim Collins denied.[7]
he did not address the issue of why the planning application stated that he was living with his parents, when he was living with his wife at a different address.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byasMinister of State at the Department of Education and Skills | Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science 2020–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration 2025–present | Incumbent |