A Minister of State in Ireland (also called a junior minister) is of non-cabinet rank attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland and assists a Minister of that government.
As of 2024 [update] , 34 women have served as Ministers of State in Ireland. Six of the twenty Ministers of State appointed by the government of Leo Varadkar in December 2022 were women, with two regularly attending cabinet. Some Ministers of State, including the Government Chief Whip, [1] attend cabinet meetings in a non-voting capacity, but are not members of the Government. They are formally known as "Minister of State attending Government", [2] [3] or colloquially as "Super Junior" ministers. [4] There are currently three Ministers of State who regularly attend cabinet, two of whom are women.
The Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 allowed the Executive Council (from 1937, the Government of Ireland) to appoint up to seven Parliamentary Secretaries to the Executive Council or to Executive Ministers. [5] The Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1977 abolished the position of Parliamentary Secretary, and created the new position of Minister of State. [6] This Act was commenced on 1 January 1978. [7] Unlike senior government ministers, who are appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach and the prior approval of Dáil Éireann, Ministers of State are appointed directly by the government, on the nomination of the Taoiseach. Members of either House of the Oireachtas (Dáil or Seanad) may be appointed to be a Minister of State at a Department of State.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was the first and only woman to be appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary, when she was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce by Jack Lynch in 1977. She was the first woman to be appointed as a Minister of State in 1978, as Minister of State at the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy. In 1979, Geoghegan-Quinn would become the first women appointed to cabinet since 1921. There has been at least one woman Minister of State in all appointments since June 1981. To date, only one Senator, Pippa Hackett, who was appointed in June 2020, has been appointed as a Minister of State.
No. | Name | Department(s) | Responsibility | Party | Appointed | Left office | Taoiseach | Govt. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Máire Geoghegan-Quinn [lower-alpha 1] (born 1950) [8] | Industry and Commerce [9] | Parliamentary Secretary [10] | Fianna Fáil | 5 July 1977 | 1 January 1978 | Jack Lynch | 15th | |
Industry, Commerce and Energy | Minister of State [10] | 1 January 1978 | 11 December 1979 | 15th | |||||
Education [11] | Youth and Sport [12] | 23 March 1982 | 14 December 1982 | Charles Haughey | 18th | ||||
Taoiseach [13] | Co-ordination of Government policy and EC matters [14] | 12 March 1987 | 12 July 1989 | 20th | |||||
Taoiseach [15] | Co-ordinator of Government Policy and EC matters [16] | 19 July 1989 | 11 February 1992 | 21st | |||||
2 | Mary Flaherty (born 1953) [17] | Health [18] Social Welfare | Poverty and the Family [19] | Fine Gael | 30 June 1981 | 9 March 1982 | Garret FitzGerald | 17th | |
3 | Nuala Fennell (1935–2009 [20] | Taoiseach [21] | Women's Affairs [22] | Fine Gael | 16 December 1982 | 10 March 1987 | Garret FitzGerald | 19th | |
Justice [23] | Family Law Reform [22] | 7 January 1983 | 10 March 1987 | ||||||
4 | Avril Doyle (born 1949) [24] | Finance [25] Environment | Office of Public Works Environmental Protection [22] | Fine Gael | 13 February 1986 | 10 March 1987 | Garret FitzGerald | 19th | |
Taoiseach [26] Finance Transport, Energy and Communications | Consumers of Public Services [27] | 27 January 1995 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | ||||
5 | Mary Harney [lower-alpha 1] (born 1953) [28] | Environment [15] [29] | Protection of the Environment [16] | Progressive Democrats | 19 July 1989 | 11 February 1992 | Charles Haughey | 21st | |
11 February 1992 | 4 November 1992 | Albert Reynolds | 22nd | ||||||
6 | Mary O'Rourke [lower-alpha 1] (born 1937) [30] | Industry and Commerce [29] | Trade and Marketing [16] | Fianna Fáil | 13 February 1992 | 12 January 1993 | Albert Reynolds | 22nd | |
Enterprise and Employment [31] | Labour Affairs [27] | 14 January 1993 | 15 December 1994 | 23rd | |||||
7= | Eithne FitzGerald (born 1950) [32] | Finance [31] | Office of the Tánaiste, National Development Plan [27] | Labour | 14 January 1993 | 17 November 1994 | Albert Reynolds | 23rd | |
Enterprise and Employment [33] | Office of the Tánaiste, Labour Affairs [27] | 20 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | ||||
7= | Joan Burton [lower-alpha 1] (born 1949) [34] | Social Welfare [31] | Poverty, Tax and Social Welfare Codes [27] | Labour | 14 January 1993 | 17 November 1994 | Albert Reynolds | 23rd | |
Foreign Affairs [33] Justice | Overseas Development Assistance [27] | 20 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | ||||
9 | Liz McManus (born 1947) [35] | Environment [33] | Environment [27] | Democratic Left | 20 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | |
10 | Liz O'Donnell (born 1956) [36] | Foreign Affairs [37] | Overseas Development Assistance, Human Rights [38] | Progressive Democrats | 1 July 1997 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
Minister of State to the Government [38] | 11 April 2002 | 6 June 2002 | |||||||
11 | Mary Wallace (born 1959) [39] | Justice, Equality and Law Reform [37] | Equality, Disabilities [38] | Fianna Fáil | 8 July 1997 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
Agriculture and Food [40] | Forestry [41] | 14 February 2006 | 14 June 2007 | 26th | |||||
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food [42] | Forestry [43] | 20 June 2007 | 7 May 2008 | 27th | |||||
Health and Children [44] | Health Promotion, Food Safety [45] | 13 May 2008 | 22 April 2009 | Brian Cowen | 28th | ||||
12 | Mary Hanafin [lower-alpha 1] (born 1959) [46] | Health and Children [47] Justice, Equality and Law Reform Education and Science | Children [38] | Fianna Fáil | 1 February 2000 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
Taoiseach [48] Defence | Government Chief Whip, Defence, Information society [41] | 6 June 2002 | 29 September 2004 | 26th | |||||
13 | Mary Coughlan [lower-alpha 1] (born 1965) [49] | Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands [50] | Gaeltacht, The Islands [38] | Fianna Fáil | 19 February 2001 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
14 | Síle de Valera [lower-alpha 1] (born 1954) [51] | Education and Science [52] | Adult Education, Youth Affairs, Educational Disadvantage [41] | Fianna Fáil | 19 June 2002 | 8 December 2006 | Bertie Ahern | 26th | |
15 | Máire Hoctor (born 1963) [53] | Health and Children [42] Social and Family Affairs Environment, Heritage and Local Government | Services for Older People [43] | Fianna Fáil | 9 July 2007 | 7 May 2008 | Bertie Ahern | 27th | |
Health and Children [44] Social and Family Affairs Environment, Heritage and Local Government | Older People [45] | 13 May 2008 | 22 April 2009 | Brian Cowen | 28th | ||||
16 | Áine Brady (born 1954) [54] | Health and Children [55] Social and Family Affairs Environment, Heritage and Local Government | Older People, Health Promotion [45] | Fianna Fáil | 22 April 2009 | 9 March 2011 | Brian Cowen | 28th | |
17 | Mary White (born 1948) [56] | Justice and Law Reform [57] Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs Education and Skills | Equality and Human Rights, Integration [45] | Green | 23 March 2010 | 23 January 2011 | Brian Cowen | 28th | |
18= | Róisín Shortall (born 1954) [58] | Health [59] | Primary Care [60] | Labour | 10 March 2011 | 26 September 2012 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
18= | Jan O'Sullivan [lower-alpha 1] (born 1950) [61] | Foreign Affairs and Trade [59] | Trade and Development [60] | Labour | 10 March 2011 | 20 December 2011 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
Environment, Community and Local Government | Housing and Planning [60] [lower-alpha 2] | 20 December 2011 | 11 July 2014 | ||||||
18= | Kathleen Lynch (born 1953) [62] | Justice and Equality [59] Health | Disability, Equality, Mental Health [60] | Labour | 10 March 2011 | 15 July 2014 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
Health [63] | Primary Care, Mental Health, Disability | 15 July 2014 | 6 May 2016 | ||||||
18= | Lucinda Creighton (born 1980) [64] | Taoiseach [59] Foreign Affairs and Trade | European Affairs [60] | Fine Gael | 10 March 2011 | 11 July 2013 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
22 | Ann Phelan (born 1961) [65] | Agriculture, Food and the Marine [63] Transport, Tourism and Sport | Rural Economic Development, Rural Transport [60] | Labour | 15 July 2014 | 6 May 2016 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
23 | Regina Doherty [lower-alpha 1] (born 1971) [66] | Taoiseach [67] | Government Chief Whip [lower-alpha 2] | Fine Gael | 6 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
24= | Helen McEntee [lower-alpha 1] (born 1986) [68] | Health [69] | Mental Health, Older People | Fine Gael | 19 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
Foreign Affairs and Trade [70] | European Affairs | 20 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | Leo Varadkar | 31st | ||||
24= | Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (born 1963) [71] | Health [69] | Health Promotion | Fine Gael | 19 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
24= | Catherine Byrne (born 1956) [72] | Health [69] Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government | Communities, National Drugs Strategy | Fine Gael | 19 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
Health [70] | Health Promotion, National Drugs Strategy | 20 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | Leo Varadkar | 31st | ||||
27 | Mary Mitchell O'Connor [lower-alpha 1] (born 1959) [73] | Education and Skills [74] | Higher Education [lower-alpha 2] | Fine Gael | 14 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | Leo Varadkar | 31st | |
28= | Hildegarde Naughton (born 1977) [75] | Transport [76] Environment, Climate and Communications | International and Road Transport and Logistics Postal Policy and Eircodes [lower-alpha 2] | Fine Gael | 27 June 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
Health | Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy | 21 December 2022 | 10 April 2024 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||
Taoiseach [77] | Government Chief Whip [lower-alpha 2] | 21 December 2022 | Incumbent | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||
Education | Special education and inclusion | 10 April 2024 | Incumbent | Simon Harris | 34th | ||||
28= | Pippa Hackett [78] | Agriculture, Food and the Marine [76] [77] | Land Use and Biodiversity [lower-alpha 2] | Green | 27 June 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
21 December 2022 | Incumbent | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
Simon Harris | 34th | ||||||||
30= | Josepha Madigan [lower-alpha 1] (born 1970) [79] | Education [80] [77] | Special Education and Inclusion | Fine Gael | 1 July 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
21 December 2022 | 22 March 2024 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
30= | Anne Rabbitte (born 1973) [81] | Health [80] Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth [77] | Disability | Fianna Fáil | 1 July 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
21 December 2022 | Incumbent | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
Simon Harris | 34th | ||||||||
30= | Mary Butler (born 1973) [82] | Health [80] [77] | Mental Health, Older People | Fianna Fáil | 1 July 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
21 December 2022 | Incumbent | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
Simon Harris | 34th | ||||||||
33 | Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (born 1980) [83] | Finance [77] | Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance | Fine Gael | 21 December 2022 | 10 April 2024 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | |
Foreign Affairs | European Affairs | 10 April 2024 | Incumbent | Simon Harris | 34th | ||||
34 | Emer Higgins (born 1985) [84] | Enterprise, Trade and Employment | Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses | Fine Gael | 10 April 2024 | Incumbent | Simon Harris | 34th |
David Andrews is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1993 and 1997 to 2000, Minister for Defence from 1993 to 1994 and June 1997 to October 1997, Minister for the Marine from 1993 to 1994, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1977 to 1979 and Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of Defence from 1970 to 1973. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1965 to 2002.
There were two governments of the 26th Dáil elected at the 1989 general election on 15 June 1989, both being coalition governments of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. The 21st government of Ireland was led by Charles Haughey as Taoiseach and lasted 945 days. The 22nd government of Ireland was led by Albert Reynolds as Taoiseach and lasted 308 days from its appointment until resignation, and continued to carry out its duties for a further 29 days until the appointment of its successor, giving a total of 337 days.
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A Minister of State in Ireland is of non-cabinet rank attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister of the Government responsible for that Department.
Michael Smith is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1997 to 2004, Minister for Education from November 1994 to December 1994, Minister for the Environment from 1992 to 1994 and a Minister of State in various governments. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary North constituency from 1969 to 1973, 1977 to 1981 and 1987 to 2002. He also served as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel from 1983 to 1987 and for the Agricultural Panel from May 1982 to December 1982.
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Patrick O'Donovan is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science since 2024. He previously served as a Minister of State from 2016 to 2024. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick County constituency since 2016, and from 2011 to 2016 for the Limerick constituency.
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The Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth of the Government of Ireland who performs functions delegated by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.
The Minister of State at the Department of Justice is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Justice of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Minister for Justice. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.
The Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Social Protection of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Social Protection. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.
The Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.
The Minister of State at the Department of Health is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Health of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Health. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.
The Minister of State at the Department of Transport is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Transport of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Transport. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.