James Lawless (politician)
James Lawless (born 19 August 1976) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kildare North constituency since the 2016 general election. He was appointed Chair of the Committee on Justice in September 2020. He was a member of Kildare County Council from 2014 to 2016. He topped the poll in the 2014 local elections with 2,123 votes. While a member of Kildare County Council, he served as Mayor of Naas prior to his election to Dáil Éireann. He is a qualified barrister and also has degrees in Mathematics and  Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin. He worked as a systems analyst in his early career. In May 2016, he was appointed by the party leader Micheál Martin as Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Science, Technology, Research and Development. He was a member of the Energy and Communications Oireachtas Committee, and in February 2017, he was elected as Vice-Chair of that Committee. In February 2018, he was appointed a member of the Business, Enterprise and Innovation Oireachtas committee.