Mary Butler

Mary Butler (born 29 September 1966) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Government Chief Whip since January 2025, and Minister of State at the Department of Health since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Waterford constituency since 2016. She previously served as chair of the Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation from 2016 to 2020.

Political career She was the 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, before her election to the Dáil in 2016.

Butler was opposed to the legalisation of abortion in Ireland. She called for a No vote in the 2018 referendum on abortion, and co-organised an event calling for a No vote.

Butler put forward a bill in 2018 with the aim of banning tattoos and intimate piercings for people under the age of eighteen; this bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil.

In 2020, she was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People.

Canvassing controversy Former Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Kenneally canvassed for Butler during the 2016 general election campaign, at which she was first elected to the Dáil. Butler received criticism for Kenneally's involvement in her 2016 campaign.

At the 2024 general election, Butler was re-elected to the Dáil.

Personal life Butler is married to Michael, and they have three children. She survived a skin cancer scare in 2022.