Minister of State at the Department of Transport

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.

The Department of Transport and Power was created in 1959; in 1984, as the Department of Transport, it was abolished and its functions were transferred to the Department of Communications. The Department of the Public Service was created in 1973; in 1987, its original functions were transferred to the Department of Finance, and it is the legal predecessor of the current Department of Transport. For this reason, the lists below show overlapping departments.

As of January 2025^[update], there are two Ministers of State:

• Seán Canney, TD – Minister of State with responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports. Canney is also a super junior minister, which is a minister of state in attendance at cabinet, but without a vote.
• Jerry Buttimer, TD – Minister of State with responsibility for rural transport. Buttimer is also Minister of State at the Department of Rural, Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

List of parliamentary secretaries

Department of Transport and Power 1959–1977
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Patrick Lalor	16 November 1966	2 July 1969		Fianna Fáil	12th[1]
Department of Tourism and Transport 1977–1978
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Tom Fitzpatrick	5 July 1977	1 January 1978		Fianna Fáil	15th[2]
Department of the Public Service 1973–1978
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Patrick J. Reynolds	17 December 1976	25 May 1977		Fine Gael	14th[3]

List of ministers of state

Department of Tourism and Transport 1978–1980
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Thomas J. Fitzpatrick	1 January 1978	11 December 1979		Fianna Fáil		15th[4]
Department of Transport 1980–1984
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Pádraig Flynn	25 March 1980	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil		16th[5]
Terry Leyden	23 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil		18th[6]
John Donnellan	16 December 1982	15 December 1983		Fine Gael		19th[7]
Department of the Public Service 1978–1987
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Ray MacSharry	1 January 1978	11 December 1979		Fianna Fáil		15th[4][8]
Seán Calleary	12 December 1979	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil		16th[9]
Jim O'Keeffe	13 February 1986	10 March 1987		Fine Gael		19th[10]
Department of Tourism and Transport 1987–1991
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Denis Lyons	31 March 1987	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	Tourism	20th[11]
	19 July 1989	7 February 1991				21st[12][13]
Frank Fahey	26 September 1989	7 February 1991		Fianna Fáil
Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications 1991–1993
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Denis Lyons	7 February 1991	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil	Tourism	21st
Frank Fahey	7 February 1991	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil
Brendan Kenneally	13 February 1992	12 January 1993		Fianna Fáil		22nd[14]
Department of Transport, Energy and Communications 1993–1997
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Noel Treacy	14 January 1993	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil	Energy	23rd[15]
Emmet Stagg	20 December 1994	26 June 1997		Labour		24th[16][17]
Avril Doyle	27 January 1995	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	Consumers of Public Services
Department of Public Enterprise 1997–2002
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Joe Jacob	8 July 1997	6 June 2002		Fianna Fáil	Energy	25th[18]
Department of Transport 2002–2011
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Jim McDaid	18 June 2002	5 October 2004		Fianna Fáil	Road Traffic and Road Haulage	26th[19][20][21]
Ivor Callely	29 September 2004	8 December 2005		Fianna Fáil	Traffic Management, Road Haulage and the Irish Aviation Authority
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher	14 February 2006	14 June 2007		Fianna Fáil	Traffic Management, Road Haulage and the Irish Aviation Authority
Noel Ahern	13 May 2008	22 April 2009		Fianna Fáil	Road Safety	28th[22][23]
Ciarán Cuffe	23 March 2010	23 January 2011		Green	Sustainable Travel and Planning
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport 2011–2020
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Michael Ring	10 March 2011	6 May 2016		Fine Gael	Tourism and Sport	29th
Alan Kelly	10 March 2011	11 July 2014		Labour	Public and Commuter Transport
Ann Phelan	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Labour	Rural Transport
Patrick O'Donovan	19 May 2016	14 June 2017		Fine Gael	Tourism and Sport	30th[24]
Brendan Griffin	20 June 2017	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	Tourism and Sport	31st[25]
Department of Transport 2020–present
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Hildegarde Naughton	27 June 2020	17 December 2022		Fine Gael	International and road transport and logistics	32nd[26]
Jack Chambers	21 December 2022	26 June 2024		Fianna Fáil		33rd[27] • 34th
James Lawless	27 June 2024	23 January 2025		Fianna Fáil		34th[28]
Seán Canney	23 January 2025	Incumbent		Independent	International and road transport, logistics, rail and ports	35th[29]
Jerry Buttimer	29 January 2025	Incumbent		Fine Gael	Rural transport	35th