He joined the Independent Alliance upon its inception in 2015 . On 27 February 2016 , he was re-elected as a TD for Waterford at the general election , receiving 8,306 first preference votes and was elected on the 8th count . After prolonged talks on government formation , Halligan voted for Enda Kenny as Taoiseach on 6 May 2016 , allowing Kenny to become the first Leader of Fine Gael to be re-elected to this office . He joined the government as part of the Independent Alliance , becoming a government deputy . As part of the deal between Fine Gael and the Alliance , he was appointed Minister of State for Training and Skills
prolonged talks on government formation
2016 Irish government formation
John Halligan (politician)