Tom Hayes (born 16 February 1952) is an Irish former

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

politician who served as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

from 2013 to 2016. He served as a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the Tipperary South constituency from 2001 to 2016. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

Agricultural Panel The Agricultural Panel () is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Agricultural Panel elects eleven senators. Election Art ...

from 1997 to 2001. Hayes was educated at Mount Melleray College, Waterford, and Tipperaray Vocational School. He was elected in 1997 to the

21st Seanad This is a list of the members of the 21st Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. Unless otherwise indicated, these Senators were elected or appointed in 1997, after the 1997 general election and served unt ...

for the

. He was Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. He was elected on 30 June 2001 to the

28th Dáil 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

, as a TD for Tipperary South, when he held the seat for Fine Gael in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

following the death of

Theresa Ahearn Theresa Ahearn (; 1 May 1951 – 20 September 2000) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a Teachta Dála for the Tipperary South constituency from 1989 to 2000. Political career Her first elected office was as a member of South Ti ...

. He was re-elected at the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

general elections. Hayes served as Chairman of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party from September 2002 to March 2010. He was party deputy spokesperson on Transport, with responsibility for Road Safety from October 2010 to March 2011. On 5 June 2013, he was appointed by the Fine Gael–Labour government as

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Mar ...

with responsibility for Forestry, Horticulture, the Greyhound Industry and Food Safety. He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. He continued in office as a Minister of State until the formation of a new government on 6 May 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Tom 1952 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Fine Gael TDs 21st-century Irish farmers Members of South Tipperary County Council Members of the 21st Seanad Members of the 28th Dáil Members of the 29th Dáil Members of the 30th Dáil Members of the 31st Dáil Ministers of State of the 31st Dáil Politicians from County Tipperary Fine Gael senators People from Golden, County Tipperary Agricultural Panel senators