Background
Power was born in Caragh, near Naas in County Kildare and was educated locally at the Christian Brothers School in Naas. His father Paddy Power was a Territorial Decoration, Member of the European Parliament and cabinet minister. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1989 general election, as a Fianna Fáil Territorial Decoration for the Kildare constituency, retaining his father"s seat.
Career
He was a Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) for the Kildare South constituency. He was re-elected at 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007 general elections. That incident led to Albert Reynolds"s first bid for the leadership and to Haughey"s eventual resignation in 1992.
When Reynolds eventually became Taoiseach, Power was appointed Assistant Chief Whip.
After the 2007 general election he was appointed as Minister of State for Equality at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. On 13 May 2008, shortly after Brian Cowen became Taoiseach, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with special responsibility for Information Society and Natural Resources.
He served in this position until April 2009 when he was dropped in a reshuffle where the number of junior ministers was reduced from 20 to 15. He lost his seat at the 2011 general election.
He was elected to Kildare County Council for the Kildare-Newbridge area in May 2014.
Membership
He was a member of Kildare County Council from 1999 to 2004
In 1991 Power was a key member of the so-called "gang of four" which proposed a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach, and the leader of his party, Charles Haughey. The other members of the group were Noel Dempsey, Liam Fitzgerald and M. J. Nolan. He served as a member of the Joint Committees on European Affairs and on the Environment and Local Government.