as an independent member of the 30th dáil, mcgrath pledged his support for the new government formed in june 2007. in so doing, he secured a deal with taoiseach bertie ahern, which he made public by entering it in the dáil record. this public announcement was hailed by many observers who had criticised other independent tds such as michael lowry and jackie healy-rae for keeping similar deals secret. on 20 october 2008, following the 2009 budget, mcgrath withdrew his support for the government in protest at the abolition of an automatic medical card for the over-70s, cuts in education and the increase of the pupil-teacher ratio. following the election of pearse doherty to the dáil, mcgrath joined the technical group, which consisted of the sinn féin deputies and the independent maureen o'sullivan. he was re-elected at the 2011 general election, where he served as chair of the technical group.