Hildegarde Naughton

Hildegarde Naughton is Minister of State attending Cabinet at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality with responsibility for Disability. She was appointed to this role in January 2025.

Minister Naughton previously served as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach as Government Chief Whip; and the Department of Education with special responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion. She has also served as Minister of State in the Departments of Transport, Health and Justice in the last Government.

Hildegarde was a primary school teacher and was elected to Galway City Council in 2009. She was mayor of the city in 2011/2012.

Having served in Seanad Éireann, Hildegarde was first elected to represent the constituency of Galway West in the 2020 general election. She has served on a number of Oireachtas committees including the Future of Healthcare, and Budgetary Scrutiny. She was appointed as the chair of the Communications, Climate Action and Environment committee in 2016.