Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

A Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine of the Government of Ireland and assists the Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.

There are three Ministers of State:

• Noel Grealish, TD – Minister of State with responsibility for food promotion, new markets, research and development. Grealish is also a super junior minister, which is a minister of state in attendance at cabinet, but without a vote.
• Michael Healy-Rae, TD – Minister of State with responsibility for forestry, farm safety and horticulture.
• Timmy Dooley, TD – Minister of State with responsibility for the marine.

List of parliamentary secretaries

Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Paddy Smith	1 January 1947	21 January 1947		Fianna Fáil	4th
Gerald Bartley	19 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fianna Fáil	6th
Oliver J. Flanagan	3 June 1954	20 March 1957		Fine Gael	7th
Patrick Lalor	21 April 1965	10 November 1966		Fianna Fáil	11th
Don Davern	16 November 1966	2 November 1968		Fianna Fáil	12th
Jerry Cronin	2 July 1969	9 May 1970		Fianna Fáil	13th
Jackie Fahey	9 May 1970	14 March 1973		Fianna Fáil
Michael Pat Murphy	14 March 1973	9 February 1977		Labour	14th
Thomas Hussey	5 July 1977	1 January 1978		Fianna Fáil	15th

List of ministers of state

Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Thomas Hussey	1 January 1978	11 December 1979		Fianna Fáil		15th
	12 December 1979	17 December 1980				16th
Lorcan Allen	12 December 1979	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil		16th
Michael Smith	17 December 1980	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil		16th
Michael D'Arcy	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Fine Gael	Production and Marketing	17th
Ted Nealon	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Fine Gael	Western Development	17th
Lorcan Allen	23 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	Land Commission, Production and Marketing	18th
Bernard Cowen	23 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	Disadvantaged Areas	18th
Patrick Hegarty	16 December 1982	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	Production	19th
Paul Connaughton Snr	16 December 1982	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	Land Structure and Development	19th
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Joe Walsh	12 March 1987	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	Food Industry	20th
	19 July 1989	11 February 1992				21st
Séamus Kirk	12 March 1987	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	Horticulture	20th
	19 July 1989	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil	Horticulture	21st
John Browne	13 February 1992	12 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	Food industry	22nd
Liam Hyland	13 February 1992	12 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	Horticulture
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Liam Hyland	14 January 1993	15 June 1994		Fianna Fáil	Forestry and Rural Development	23rd
Brian O'Shea	14 January 1993	17 November 1994		Labour	Food and Horticulture	23rd
Jimmy Deenihan	20 December 1994	26 June 1997		Fine Gael		24th
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Noel Davern	8 July 1997	27 September 1999		Fianna Fáil	Livestock breeding and horticulture	25th
Ned O'Keeffe	8 July 1997	27 September 1999		Fianna Fáil	Food	25th
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Noel Davern	27 September 1999	6 June 2002		Fianna Fáil	Livestock breeding and horticulture	25th
Ned O'Keeffe	27 September 1999	17 February 2001		Fianna Fáil	Food	25th
Éamon Ó Cuív	19 February 2001	6 June 2002		Fianna Fáil	Rural development and the Western Development Commission	25th
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Noel Treacy	19 June 2007	29 September 2004		Fianna Fáil	Food and horticulture	26th
Liam Aylward	19 June 2007	29 September 2004		Fianna Fáil	Animal Health and Welfare; and Customer Service	26th
John Browne	29 September 2004	14 February 2006		Fianna Fáil	Forestry	26th
Brendan Smith	29 September 2004	14 June 2007		Fianna Fáil	Food and Horticulture	26th
Mary Wallace	14 February 2006	14 June 2007		Fianna Fáil	Forestry	26th
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
John Browne	20 June 2007	7 May 2008		Fianna Fáil	Fisheries	27th
Mary Wallace	20 June 2007	7 May 2008		Fianna Fáil	Forestry	27th
Trevor Sargent	20 June 2007	23 February 2010		Green	Food and Horticulture	27th  • 28th
Tony Killeen	13 May 2008	23 March 2010		Fianna Fáil	Fisheries and Forestry	28th
Ciarán Cuffe	23 March 2010	23 January 2011		Green	Horticulture	28th
Seán Connick	23 March 2010	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	Fisheries and Forestry	28th
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Shane McEntee	10 March 2011	21 December 2012		Fine Gael	Food, Horticulture and Food Safety	29th
Tom Hayes	5 June 2013	6 May 2016		Fine Gael	Food, Horticulture and Food Safety	29th
Ann Phelan	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Labour	Rural Economic Development	29th
Andrew Doyle	19 May 2016	14 June 2017		Fine Gael	Food, Forestry and Horticulture	30th
	20 June 2017	27 June 2020				31st
Pippa Hackett [1]	27 June 2020	23 January 2025		Green	Land use and biodiversity	32nd [2]  • 33rd [3]  • 34th
Martin Heydon	1 July 2020	23 January 2025		Fine Gael	Research and development, farm safety and new market development
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Noel Grealish	23 January 2025	Incumbent		Independent	Food promotion, new markets, research and development	35th [4]
Michael Healy-Rae	29 January 2025			Independent	Forestry, farm safety and horticulture
Timmy Dooley	In February 2025			Fianna Fáil	Marine

References

1. Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2021 ( S.I. No. 40 of 2021 ). Signed on 2 February 2021. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 15 February 2021.
2. "Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil) – Tuesday, 7 July 2020". Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
3. "Carroll MacNeill and O'Donnell promoted to junior ministers". RTÉ News . 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
4. "Appointment of Taoiseach and Nomination of Members of Government". Dáil Debates. 23 January 2025.