Shortall was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election, when the Labour Party won a record 33 seats as part of the "Spring Tide", a surge credited to the popularity of Labour leader Dick Spring. She retained her seat at each of the following four general elections.[4] She is a former party Spokesperson for Social and Family Affairs.
In 1999, she opposed the merger of the Democratic Left into the Labour Party. In 2002, she was openly critical of Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn following a poor showing by Labour in the 2002 general election. Following Quinn's resignation from the leadership months later, she contested the open leadership position, but lost out to former Democratic Left member Eamonn Gilmore.[2]
Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin tabled a motion of no confidence in Minister for HealthJames Reilly on 3 September 2012, after yet more cuts in the health service.[5] Shortall addressed the Dáil during this motion and did not indicate her support for him or mention his name once,[6] though she did vote against the motion. She resigned as Minister of State for Primary Care on 26 September 2012, and also resigned the Parliamentary Labour Party whip.[7]
In February 2022 Shortall, who is the Social Democrats' spokesperson for Health, introduced a bill in the Dáil to stop the practice of the HSE sending debt collectors to cancer patients in search of payment. The Bill also seeks an end to an inpatient charge of €80 per visit for chemo and radiotherapy, and also seeks to end extortionate parking fees. The government choose not to oppose the bill. Shortall opined that it was “frankly disgusting” that cancer patients were being pursued by debt collectors during one of the most difficult points in their lives. Each of the other opposition parties all praised the content of the bill and similarly expressed their dismay at the idea of debt collectors being used on cancer patients.[9][10]
On 22 February 2023, Shortall and Murphy announced that they would step down as co-leaders of the Social Democrats.[11] They were succeeded by Holly Cairns on 1 March.[12]
References
^"Róisín Shortall". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2009.