[3] A September 2012 progress report on the Food Harvest 2020 strategy, found that farmers and other primary producers had passed the halfway mark towards meeting their 2020 targets.

[8] Following the resignation of Dermot Ahern from the cabinet in January 2011, Smith was also appointed as Minister for Justice and Law Reform.

[9] Just before leaving office, Smith gave the go-ahead for genetically modified organism (GMO) foods to enter Ireland.

He was re-elected to the Dáil for Cavan Monaghan constituency at the 2016 general election along with party colleague Niamh Smyth TD.

In January 2019, he announced he was seeking the Fianna Fáil nomination to contest the 2019 European elections for the Midlands North West constituency.

[12] He secured the nomination at a convention of Fianna Fáil party delegates in Longford in March 2019,[13] but did not win a seat in the subsequent election.