Richard Bruton (born 15 March 1953) is an Irish Fine Gael politician and has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North Central constituency since 1982.[2] He is a former Irish government Minister – serving as Minister for Enterprise and Employment (1994–1997). He is currently the Opposition Spokesperson on Finance and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael.
Richard Bruton was born in Dublin, and grew up in Dunboyne, County Meath. He is the son of Joseph and Doris Bruton.[1] He was educated at Belvedere College, Clongowes Wood College, University College Dublin and Nuffield College, Oxford.[3] At Oxford he graduated with a MPhil in Economics[3], his thesis being on the subject of Irish public debt.[1] He is a Research Economist by profession,[4] and after university he worked at the Economic and Social Research Institute. This was followed by two years in the tobacco company P.J. Carroll before moving on to his final private sector job at CRH.[1]
He is the younger brother of John Bruton – former Taoiseach and EU Ambassador to the United States.
Bruton is married to Susan Meehan and they have four children, two sons and two daughters.[5]
Bruton was elected to Meath County Council in 1979[1] and was elected Seanad Éireann in 1981 on the Agricultural Panel. At the February 1982 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD.[6] From 1986 to 1987 he served as Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce. He was then appointed Opposition Spokesperson for Enterprise and Employment.
After the 1992 general election, Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party formed a coalition government, which collapsed in 1994. Bruton then helped to negotiate the Rainbow Coalition between Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left. In that government his brother, John Bruton, became Taoiseach. Richard Bruton took the highest ranking Fine Gael ministerial position, serving as Minister for Enterprise and Employment.
Among Fine Gael's disastrous results at the 2002 general election, Bruton was one of the few front bench Fine Gael TDs to retain his seat. In all, the party lost 23 of its 54 seats, and leader Michael Noonan resigned. Bruton stood as a candidate in the subsequent leadership election. He was defeated by Enda Kenny but instead was appointed Deputy Leader of Fine Gael. He is currently the party spokesperson for Finance.