13 Facts About Tom Parlon

Tom Parlon was born on 19 August 1953 and is an Irish former Progressive Democrats politician.

Tom Parlon later served as the Director General of the Construction Industry Federation of Ireland.

Tom Parlon was appointed Minister of State on one of his first days in the Dail.

Previous to being a politician Tom Parlon held a number of senior positions in the Irish Farmers' Association, including Deputy President and President.

Tom Parlon became President of the Progressive Democrats party in September 2006 after Michael McDowell took over as party leader.

Tom Parlon lost his seat at the 2007 general election despite running one of the most expensive campaigns in the election.

Tom Parlon announced on 10 July 2007, that he was quitting politics and would not seek a nomination to Seanad Eireann, or to contest the leadership of the Progressive Democrats.

In December 2003 Tom Parlon was attacked by fellow ministers for claiming the decentralisation plan being implemented in Laois was because of his decision, when in fact he had no input into the plan at all and was only a junior by-stander.

In 2008, Tom Parlon publicly took credit for effecting a policy reversal by the Department of Finance on the procurement procedure for State building projects.

Tom Parlon was appointed as Director General of the Construction Industry Federation in July 2007.

Tom Parlon's appointment coincided with the downturn in the construction sector and the economy in general.

In May 2009, the Sunday Independent newspaper reported that Tom Parlon was raising a multimillion-euro warchest from developers to fund research to look at ways to oppose the formation of the National Asset Management Agency and potentially take a legal action against it.

On 7 July 2009, in an interview with Pat Kenny, Tom Parlon controversially referred to striking electricians and their union as "lunatics".