McHugh topped the poll Donegal North-East at the 2007 general election with 22.6% of the first preference vote. His wife Olwyn Enright also won re-election to the Dáil, making them the third married couple to sit in the same Dáil. McHugh was appointed party deputy Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and the Department of the Taoiseach, with special responsibility for North-South Co-operation in October 2007. McHugh was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2011 general election, attaining 19.3% of the first-preference vote.