Joe was first elected to the Dáil in May 2007 and was appointed Fine Gael Spokesperson on Juvenile Justice in October, 2007. Joe was appointed Fine Gael Assistant Chief Whip in July 2010.
He took the fourth seat in the four-seat Clare constituency gaining a second seat for Fine Gael for the first time in Clare in twenty years. It was the first occasion he contested a General Election.
Prior to his election to Dáil Éireann, he was a member of Clare County Council from June 1999 receiving the highest ever vote in Clare in the Local Elections of 2004.
In his short time in the Dáil , Joe has become one of Fine Gaels hardest working TDs. He has contributed to Fine Gaels jobs policy paper entitled Hope for a lost Generation and has produced papers on the Irish Juvenile Justice System along with papers on Irish Personal Indebtedness.
He and his family have been involved with Fine Gael for generations. His father Donal served as a Fine Gael TD for Clare 1982-2002, Senator 1981-82 and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Department of Arts Culture and the Gaeltacht 1995-97.
Joe is a native of Clarecastle and is a full time public representative. Locally for County Clare his political priorities include Shannon Airport, Education, Health, Youth & Community Facilities, People with Disabilities, Roads, Community Development, Water & Sewage Schemes, Agriculture, Housing, Crime, Balanced Regional Development, Planning and Tourism.