Madigan is a qualified solicitor, who practised in family law for twenty years, prior to her election to Dáil Éireann. She is also certified as a mediator by the Mediators' Institute of Ireland (MII) and is a previous Council member of the MII. She is a former Specialist Liaison Officer for Family Mediation in the MII.[8]
Madigan is the author of the first book in Ireland on mediation: Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Ireland, a handbook for family lawyers and their clients (Jordan Publishing, 2012). She has also self-published a novel called Negligent Behaviour.[9]
Madigan issued a leaflet in 2014 claimed that providing accommodation for Travellers in her constituency would be "a waste of valuable resources". When asked about this later, Madigan claimed "Some people won't want to live beside people in halting sites [...] there might be more crime, that there might be anti-social behaviour".[11][12]
She was re-elected at the 2020 general election, taking the third seat behind Green Party Deputy Leader Catherine Martin and party colleague Neale Richmond. On 1 July 2020, Madigan was appointed by the new government as Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for special education and inclusion.[17] On 14 January 2021, Madigan came under fire for describing children without additional needs as 'normal' while speaking in the Dáil.[18] "We all know that even for normal children remote teaching is difficult but for children who have additional needs it is particularly difficult," she said. Later that day on Twitter, the minister said she 'sincerely apologises for the language she used.' "It is absolutely not what I meant to say."[19]
On 20 January 2021, speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Madigan compared children with additional needs not attending school to the mother and baby homes.[20] "We've spent the last week talking about mother and baby homes, where our most vulnerable were left to their own devices in less than satisfactory conditions and we're now allowing further anxiety and upset to be placed on the shoulders of parents whose children desperately need to go back to school." The Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Related Matters was published the week prior to Madigan's comments. Madigan later apologised in a statement: "I am, as are all involved in supporting these children [children with additional needs], passionate about vindicating their rights and in reaching for an analogy I chose poorly. I apologise fully."
Shortly after the first report of the Creeslough explosion on 7 October 2022, Madigan tweeted that she hoped "they find the culprits" and, after being criticised as irresponsible and insensitive, Madigan quickly deleted the tweet.[21]
On 22 March 2024, Madigan announced that she would resign as Minister of State and would not contest the next general election.[22]
In 2019, Madigan received widespread coverage for her role in the personal injury legal claim of Fine Gael politician, Maria Bailey.[23][24][25] It was alleged that Madigan's law practice, Madigan Solicitors, advised Bailey on her claim, however, Madigan refused to make any comments on this citing client-solicitor confidentiality.[24][26] In July 2019, an internal unpublished Fine Gael probe into the affair cleared Madigan of any wrongdoing in regard to the claim.[27][28] In late July 2019, the Irish Independent reported that "it is now known that she advised Ms Bailey in the early stages of the claim".[29] It was also reported that Madigan's firm would earn €11,500 in fees if the Maria Bailey case had been successful.[30]
^Rory Carroll (28 May 2019). "Voters cry foul over politician's fall from swing in Dublin bar". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019. More details emerged. Three weeks after the fall Bailey competed in a 10km run. She hired the law firm of a government minister, Josepha Madigan, to pursue the case. The claim omitted mention of her holding bottles while on the swing.
^"Maria Bailey: Swing fall case TD demoted by Leo Varadkar". BBC News. 23 July 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019. Mr Varadkar said that while Ms Madigan had given her colleague initial legal advice, the case was passed on to another member of her legal firm who told her on a number of occasions that while she had a "statable" case, a finding of contributory negligence against her was also likely.
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