About James Reilly (Irish politician)
James Reilly is an Irish former Fine Gael politician, businessman and medical doctor who served as a Senator from May 2016 to March 2020. He previously served as Acting Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from February to May 2016, Minister for Health from March 2011 to July 2014 and deputy leader of Fine Gael from 2010 to 2017. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency from 2007 to 2016. He subsequently announced his retirement from politics after he lost his bid for election for his old seat at the 2020 general election. For his first official trip as Health Minister, Reilly embarked on an expedition to China. Shortly before becoming Minister for Health the number of patients on trolleys reached a new record high of 569. Reilly instructed his department to start collating an outpatient waiting list for the first time, which, when it was first published in March 2013 showed over 100,000 patients waiting over a year.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.