He ran as a Labour candidate in the Wexford constituency, but despite the existence of a large left-wing vote in the area, Howlin was not elected.

[7] Despite this setback, a Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government came to power and he was nominated by the Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald to serve in Seanad Éireann as a Senator.

Despite his recent entry to the Dáil, Howlin was subsequently named Chief Whip of the Labour Party, a position he held until 1993.

During his tenure the development of a four-year health strategy, the identifying of HIV/AIDS prevention as a priority and the securing of a £35 million investment in childcare were advanced.

Following the 1997 general election, a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalition government came to power and the Labour Party returned to the opposition benches.

In late 1997, Dick Spring resigned as leader of the Labour Party and Howlin immediately threw his hat into the ring in the subsequent leadership election.

As a show of unity, Howlin was later named deputy leader of the party and retained his brief as Spokesperson for the Environment and Local Government.

Rabbitte explicitly ruled out any future coalition with Fianna Fáil, instead forming a formal alliance with Fine Gael in the run-up to the 2007 general election (the so-called Mullingar Accord).

[1] After the 2011 general election, Fine Gael and the Labour Party formed a government, Howlin was appointed to the new office of Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

In May 2011, he said that over the next 20 years, the number of people in Ireland over 65 is set to increase by almost half a million, a situation that could see the annual health budget soar – rising by €12.5 billion in the next decade alone.

While reform was a major part of government attempts "to regain full sovereignty over economic policy", Howlin told a meeting of the Association of Chief Executives of State Agencies they would in any event face key "imperatives" in coming years.

[10] Budgets 2012 to 2016 - introduced in part by Brendan Howlin as Minister for Public Expenditure and supported by Labour[11] - were described by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) as "regressive".

[14] Howlin retained his seat in the Dáil following the 2016 general election, though only six of his Labour colleagues did likewise and the party returned to the opposition benches.

Varadkar replied that he had been far too busy dealing with the recent weather crisis and Brexit "to organise invitations to Deputies personally in order that they [Howlin] felt included".

[25] On 15 February 2020, Howlin ruled himself out as a candidate for Ceann Comhairle of the 33rd Dail, with the polling day to elect his successor set for 3 April 2020.

[30] In 2020, Howlin's legislation (Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill) was passed and signed into law by Michael D.