Minister for Finance (Ireland)

Last updated

Minister for Finance
Irish Department of Finance.png
Paschal Donohoe (2024) (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Paschal Donohoe
since 23 January 2025
Department of Finance
Member of
Reports to Taoiseach
Seat Government Buildings,
Merrion Street, Dublin, Ireland
Appointer President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder Eoin MacNeill
Formation22 January 1919
Website Official website OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Minister for Finance (Irish : An tAire Airgeadais) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland. The Minister for Finance leads the Department of Finance and is responsible for all financial and monetary matters of the state; and is considered the second most important member of the Government of Ireland, after the Taoiseach.

Contents

The current office holder is Paschal Donohoe, TD. He is assisted by one Minister of State Robert Troy, TD.

Overview

Government Buildings, Dublin, is the location of the Department of Finance Gbuildings.jpg
Government Buildings, Dublin, is the location of the Department of Finance

The Minister for Finance holds the second most important ministerial position in the Irish Cabinet after that of the Taoiseach. The minister is in charge of the Department of Finance responsible for all financial matters in Ireland. It is one of three positions in the government which the Constitution requires to be held by a member of Dáil Éireann, the other two being Taoiseach and Tánaiste. Ministers for finance who later became Taoiseach include Jack Lynch, Charles Haughey, Albert Reynolds, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen.

The department and minister are occasionally called the Irish Exchequer (or simply the Exchequer), a term previously used under the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland (disestablished in 1817).

Budget

One of the most important aspects of the Minister's work is the creation of the annual budget which is delivered to the Dáil in a speech, which must be given before 15 October due to the Two-Pack agreement. In the budget, the minister details the government's spending programme for the coming year. The budget consists of:

Minister for Finance since 1919

  Denotes acting Minister for Finance
NameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s) [a]
Eoin MacNeill 22 January 19191 April 1919 Sinn Féin 1st DM
Michael Collins 2 April 191922 August 1922 Sinn Féin 2nd DM  • 3rd DM  • 4th DM  • 1st PG
W. T. Cosgrave (acting)17 July 192221 September 1923 Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin 1st PG  • 2nd PG  • 5th DM  • 1st EC
Ernest Blythe 21 September 19239 March 1932 Cumann na nGaedheal 2nd EC  • 3rd EC  • 4th EC  • 5th EC
Seán MacEntee 9 March 193216 September 1939 Fianna Fáil 6th EC  • 7th EC  • 8th EC  • 1st  • 2nd
Seán T. O'Kelly 16 September 193914 June 1945 Fianna Fáil 2nd  • 3rd  • 4th
Frank Aiken 19 June 194518 February 1948 Fianna Fáil 4th
Patrick McGilligan 18 February 194813 June 1951 Fine Gael 5th
Seán MacEntee 13 June 19512 June 1954 Fianna Fáil 6th
Gerard Sweetman 2 June 195420 March 1957 Fine Gael 7th
James Ryan 20 March 195721 April 1965 Fianna Fáil 8th  • 9th  • 10th
Jack Lynch 21 April 196510 November 1966 Fianna Fáil 11th
Charles Haughey 10 November 19667 May 1970 Fianna Fáil 12th  • 13th
George Colley 9 May 197014 March 1973 Fianna Fáil 13th
Richie Ryan [b] 14 March 19735 July 1977 Fine Gael 14th
George Colley [c] 5 July 197711 December 1979 Fianna Fáil 15th
Michael O'Kennedy [c] 12 December 197916 December 1980 Fianna Fáil 16th
Gene Fitzgerald [c] 16 December 198030 June 1981 Fianna Fáil 16th
John Bruton 30 June 19819 March 1982 Fine Gael 17th
Ray MacSharry 9 March 198214 December 1982 Fianna Fáil 18th
Alan Dukes 14 December 198214 February 1986 Fine Gael 19th
John Bruton [d] 14 February 198610 March 1987 Fine Gael 19th
Ray MacSharry [e] 10 March 198724 November 1988 Fianna Fáil 20th
Albert Reynolds 24 November 19887 November 1991 Fianna Fáil 20th  • 21st
Charles Haughey (acting)7 November 199114 November 1991 Fianna Fáil 21st
Bertie Ahern 14 November 199115 December 1994 Fianna Fáil 21st  • 22nd  • 23rd
Ruairi Quinn 15 December 199426 June 1997 Labour 24th
Charlie McCreevy 26 June 199729 September 2004 Fianna Fáil 25th  • 26th
Brian Cowen 29 September 20047 May 2008 Fianna Fáil 26th  • 27th
Brian Lenihan 7 May 20089 March 2011 Fianna Fáil 28th
Michael Noonan 9 March 201114 June 2017 Fine Gael 29th  • 30th
Paschal Donohoe [f] 14 June 201717 December 2022 Fine Gael 31st  • 32nd
Michael McGrath [g] 17 December 202226 June 2024 Fianna Fáil 33rd  • 34th
Jack Chambers 26 June 202423 January 2025 Fianna Fáil 34th
Paschal Donohoe 23 January 2025Incumbent Fine Gael 35th
  1. ↑ Before 1937: DM – Dáil Ministry; PG – Provisional Government; EC – Executive Council.
  2. ↑ Also Minister for the Public Service from 1 November 1973, on the creation of the new department.
  3. 1 2 3 Also Minister for the Public Service.
  4. ↑ Also Minister for the Public Service from 20 January to 20 March 1987, after the resignation of the Labour Party ministers from government.
  5. ↑ Also Minister for the Public Service until 20 March 1987, when the functions of the department were transferred to the Department of Finance.
  6. ↑ Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 6 May 2016 to 27 June 2020.
  7. ↑ Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 27 June 2020 to 17 December 2022.

See also

References

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