The Minister for Education ( ga, An tAire Oideachais) is a senior minister in the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

and leads the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. The current Minister for Education is Norma Foley, TD. She is assisted by

Josepha Madigan Josepha Madigan (born 21 May 1970) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion since July 2020. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency since 2016. Sh ...

, TD, Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion.

Functions

The minister engages in a wide range of activities relating to

education in the Republic of Ireland The levels of Ireland's education are primary, secondary and higher (often known as "third-level" or tertiary) education. In recent years further education has grown immensely with 51% of working age adults having completed higher education b ...

, including policy planning, quality assurance and the provision of a broad range of services. The department officially aims to: *Promote equity and inclusion *Promote lifelong learning *Plan for education that is relevant to personal, social, cultural and economic needs. In recent years some of these functions have been devolved to statutory authorities, in particular the

Higher Education Authority __NOTOC__ The Higher Education Authority (HEA), officially An tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachas, is the statutory body providing policy advice for higher education in Ireland. Description and functions The HEA was established under the Higher Educat ...

, the National Qualifications Authority and the

State Examinations Commission The State Examinations Commission ( ga, Coimisiún na Scrúduithe Stáit) is the organisation that replaced the Examinations Branch of the Department of Education in Ireland. History The State Examinations Commission is a State body established ...

. Irish universities and colleges are to a large extent free of government control, with this being largely limited to policy formation and statistics preparation.

History

In 1919, the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

passed a motion calling for the Dáil to appoint a Minister for Irish, which was read into the record of the Dáil by the Ceann Comhairle. On 29 June 1920, John J. O'Kelly, known in Irish as Seán Ua Ceallaigh, and also by the pen name Sceilg, was appointed as Minister for Irish. The portfolio was created to promote the use of the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

throughout the country. After the

Second Dáil The Second Dáil () was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919 to 1922, Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elect ...

met in August 1921, the President

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

proposed that this position be altered to that of Minister for Education, saying "It was obvious the Minister in charge should be capable of dealing with the part referring to Irish but he thought the Department should have a wider meaning than at present". This was accepted by the Dáil. The following day, when de Valera proposed his new ministry, O'Kelly was proposed as Minister for Education, continuing in his previous position with an expanded function. It was given a statutory basis in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

as one of the positions in the Executive Council under the

Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 The Ministers and Secretaries Acts 1924 to 2020 is the legislation which governs the appointment of ministers to the Government of Ireland and the allocation of functions between departments of state. It is subject in particular to the provisi ...

List of office-holders

;Notes

References

External links

Department of Education
{{DEFAULTSORT:Education Government ministers of the Republic of Ireland Lists of government ministers of Ireland Minister Ministries established in 1921

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Minister