The Ministers and Secretaries Acts 1924 to 2020 is the

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

which governs the appointment of

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

to 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 the allocation of functions between departments of state. It is subject in particular to the provisions of Article 28 of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...

. The Acts allow for the appointment of between 7 and 15 Ministers of Government across 17 Departments, and for the appointment of up to 20 junior ministers, titled

Ministers of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

, to assist the Ministers of Government in their powers and duties. The principal act is the ''Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924'' and was one of the key statutes enacted by 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 ...

. The

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,Executive Council. The 1924 Act formally defined the government departments that were to exist in the Free State, created their titles and outlined their responsibilities. The Act has been amended and affected by subsequent legislation which may be cited together and construed as one Act. The names and functions of departments have changed frequently by secondary legislation. Although the ''secretaries'' created by the 1924 Act were later replaced by ministers of state, as amendments to the principal Act, subsequent legislation changing the structures of government departments have continued to use the title ''Ministers and Secretaries Act''.

Background

Lord Lieutenant's administration

From 1801 to 1922, Ireland had been governed as part of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The legal government of Ireland was an executive and Privy Council of Ireland under the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; in practice, the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

was run by the Chief Secretary for Ireland.

Irish Republic and the Anglo-Irish Treaty

After the 1918 general election, MPs elected for

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

established the extrajudicial Dáil Éireann (House of Assembly) in January 1919 and made a

unilateral declaration of independence A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedin ...

of the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

. This operated without external recognition under the terms of the

Dáil Constitution The Constitution of Dáil Éireann ( ga, Bunreacht Dála Éireann), more commonly known as the Dáil Constitution, was the constitution of the 1919–22 Irish Republic. It was adopted by the First Dáil at its first meeting on 21 January 1919 an ...

. Its executive, the Ministry of Dáil Éireann, was headed by the

President of Dáil Éireann President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

. In January 1922, a majority of the Dáil accepted the terms of the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

which agreed the terms of the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

of the

from the United Kingdom. In January 1922, a

Provisional Government of Ireland The Provisional Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas Sealadach na hÉireann) was the provisional government for the administration of Southern Ireland from 16 January 1922 to 5 December 1922. It was a transitional administration for the period be ...

was formed, approved by the members elected for the

House of Commons of Southern Ireland The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a Home Rule legislature established by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,"Order in Coun ...

in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty. By Order in Council under the

Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 (12 & 13 Geo. 5 c. 4) was an Act of the British Parliament passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was scheduled to the Act. Main provisions Section 1(1) of th ...

, the British Government formally transferred powers to the Provisional Government on 1 April 1922.

Constitution of the Irish Free State

ON 6 December 1922, under the Treaty's provisions, the new

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,Third Dáil The Third Dáil was elected at the general election held on 16 June 1922. This election was required to be held under the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921. It first met on 9 September and until 6 December 1922, it was the Provisio ...

, sitting as a

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, and the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, came into force through a proclamation issued by the King. Both the Dáil Ministry and the Provisional Government were replaced by the Executive Council, under the chairmanship of the President of the Executive Council. Initially its governmental offices were an amalgam of posts from the Lord Lieutenant's administration, the Provisional Government and the Dáil Ministry. For example, there was an Irish ''Postmaster General'', a post that had existed in the Lord Lieutenant's administration, and a ''Minister for Home Affairs'', an office created as part of the Dáil ministry.

New legislation

In the

Governor-General's Address to Dáil Éireann In the Irish Free State, the Governor-General's Address or Governor-General's Speech was a formal address delivered by the Governor-General to Dáil Éireann, modelled on the speech from the throne given in other Dominions of the British Common ...

at the State Opening of the Oireachtas on 3 October 1923 the first indication was given that: The Ministers and Secretaries Bill 1923 was introduced by William T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council, on 16 November 1923. The governmental structures that were to be a permanent feature of independent Irish government were regularised and defined. Positions which had existed under the Dublin Castle administration, like those of Postmaster-General and Solicitor-General, were merged into new Departments of State, as was the Ministry for Labour, which had been part of the Dáil Ministry. Some positions which had been created by the Dáil Ministry were given new names, such as the Minister for Home Affairs, which became the ''Minister for Justice''. The bill was enacted as the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, and was commenced on 2 June 1924.

Departments of State

The 1924 Act created the following

government departments Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...

: ;Notes Ten of the eleven departments created in 1924 continue to exist, with changes in most cases to departmental title and functions. Section 6 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1939 permits the Government to alter the title of any department of state or minister and to transfer branches between departments.

Departments created post-1924

The following departments were created by later amending legislation:

Ministers of State

Section 7 of the 1924 Act permitted the Executive Council to appoint up to seven members of the Oireachtas as parliamentary secretaries to the Executive Council or to Executive Ministers. The Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1977 abolished the position of parliamentary secretary. In its place, it permitted the government to appoint up to ten members of the Oireachtas (Dáil or Seanad) to the position of Minister of State ( ga, Aire Stáit), a ministerial position of non- cabinet rank attached to one or more of the Departments of State. These changes took effect on 1 January 1978. In June 2020

Pippa Hackett Pippa Hackett is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as a Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine since June 2020. She is one of three Ministers of State in attendance at cabinet, but without a vote. S ...

became the first senator appointed as a Minister of State. Unlike government ministers who are appointed by the President on the

advice Advice (noun) or advise (verb) may refer to: * Advice (opinion), an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct * Advice (constitutional law) a frequently binding instruction issued to a constitutional office-holder * Advice (p ...

of the Taoiseach with the prior approval of the Dáil, Ministers of State are appointed by the cabinet, on nomination of the Taoiseach. Ministers of State continue in office after the dissolution of the Dáil until a successor is appointed. If the Taoiseach resigns from office, a Minister of State is also deemed to have resigned from office. A Minister of State ceases to hold office if they are appointed as a Government Minister. A Minister of State may resign from office by letter addressed to the Taoiseach. Powers and duties of a Government Minister may be delegated to a Minister of State by a statutory instrument. If the Government Minister resigns, these powers must delegated again on the appointment of a new Government Minister. In 1980, the number of Ministers of State permitted was increased from 10 to 15; in 1995 it was raised to 17; and in 2007 it was raised to 20.

Other provisions of the Acts

Section 3(2) of the 1924 Act (later repealed and replaced in similar terms by s. 4 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1946) allowed for two or more Departments of State to be assigned to the same member of Government. At present,

Simon Coveney Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since December 2022 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affai ...

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

and

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Eamon Ryan Eamon Michael Ryan (born 28 July 1963) is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport since June 2020 and Leader of the Green Party since May 2011. He ha ...

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications ( ga, An tAire Comhshaoil, Aeráide agus Cumarsáide) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The ...

and

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

, and

Heather Humphreys Heather Humphreys (born 14 May 1963) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Rural and Community Development and Minister for Social Protection since June 2020. She also briefly served as Minister for Justice in November ...

Minister for Social Protection The Minister for Social Protection ( ga, An tAire Cosanta Sóisialta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Social Protection. The current Minister for Social Protection is Heather Humphreys. She is als ...

and

Minister for Rural and Community Development The Minister for Rural and Community Development (Irish: ''An tAire Forbartha Tuaithe agus Pobail'') is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Rural and Community Development. The current Minister for Rural ...

. Section 6 of the 1924 Act created the post of

Attorney-General of the Irish Free State The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does pa ...

. This post was to take over, "the business, powers, authorities, duties and functions formerly vested in or exercised by the

Attorney-General for Ireland The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the ...

, the

Solicitor-General for Ireland The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On ra ...

, the Attorney-General for Southern Ireland, the Solicitor-General for Southern Ireland, the

Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland The Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was a Law Officer of the English Crown in nineteenth-century Ireland. The office lapsed in the 1880s, due apparently to concerns that it was becoming too political, but was briefly revived in the e ...

and any or all of them respectively…". The 1924 Act also created an official Seal for the Executive Council, and created a Council for Defence to aid and advise the Minister for Defence. It provided for the existence of ministerial salaries for members of the Executive Council and Parliamentary Secretaries and that all executive orders were to be published in the Irish state gazette, to be known as . The 1939 Act allowed a member of the Government to be a minister without portfolio, not being assigned to a Department of State, but to be given a specific style or title. This was the case for

Frank Aiken Francis Thomas Aiken (13 February 1898 – 18 May 1983) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was chief of staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA at the end of the Irish Civil War. Aiken later served as Tánaiste from 1965 to 1969 and Minister ...

, who was

Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures The Minister for the Co-ordination of Defensive Measures was the title of Frank Aiken as a member of the Government of Ireland from 8 September 1939 to 18 June 1945 during The Emergency — the state of emergency in operation in Ireland during ...

from 1939 to 1945. It is also the case for members of the government who are named to head a government department which is being created under an amendment to the Ministers and Secretaries Acts. The 1939 Act also permitted the Taoiseach to perform a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...

References

External links

Text of the Principal Act

Oireachtas debates on the Ministers and Secretaries Bill 1923 (Bill 51 of 1923)
{{Irish Free State 1924 in Irish law Acts of the Oireachtas of the 1920s