Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach is a junior ministerial post in the Department of the Taoiseach of the Government of Ireland who performs duties and functions delegated by the Taoiseach.

Government Chief Whip
Incumbent Hildegarde Naughton since 17 December 2022
Appointer	Taoiseach
Inaugural holder	Daniel McCarthy (as Parliamentary Secretary to the President)
Formation	6 December 1922
Deputy	Cormac Devlin

The position was first created in 1922 as Parliamentary secretary to the President of the Executive Council. In 1937, following the adoption of the Constitution of Ireland, the position was changed to that of Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach.^[1] In 1978, the position was superseded by the office of Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach.

One of the Ministers of State in this department is assigned the role of Government Chief Whip and is the most senior Minister of State in the government of Ireland. They attend cabinet meetings, but do not have a vote and are not one of fifteen members of the government. The role of the Whip is primarily that of the disciplinarian for all government parties, to ensure that all deputies, including ministers, attend for Dáil Business and follow the government line on all issues.^[2]

The incumbent Government Chief Whip is Hildegarde Naughton, TD, and the Deputy Chief Whip is Cormac Devlin.

Responsibilities of Government Chief Whip

The main responsibilities of the Chief Whip include:^[3]

Attendance at Government meetings

The Chief Whip is a Minister of State who attends Government meetings, but does not have a vote. The title is sometimes given as "Minister of State, attending Government".^[4] Other Ministers of state with the title "Minister of State, attending Government" are commonly known as Super Junior Ministers.

Preparation of weekly brief for Taoiseach on legislation in preparation

Before each Dáil Session letters are sent to all Ministers to see what legislation or other business their department expects to place before the Dáil. A weekly report on what stage Bills are at is given to the Taoiseach. During the Order of Business the Taoiseach is often queried about what legislation is promised. The weekly report shows what Bills are promised and gives an expected date of publication of the Bill.

Scheduling and monitoring of Dáil business

Once a Bill has been published and is placed on the Dáil Order Paper the staff in the Whip's Office keep in touch with Minister's Private Secretaries about when they wish to have their bill taken in the Dáil - sometimes the Whip's Office have to insist that a Bill is taken on a certain day, particularly when there is not much business for the House. Every Wednesday the Private Secretary prepares an agenda (called a schedule - see example) for each sitting day of the following week. This is discussed at a meeting of the Dáil Business Committee, which includes the Whips of the major parties, including the government (Fine Gael) chief whip; Fianna Fáil whip Michael Moynihan; Sinn Féin whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Labour Party whip Brendan Ryan.

Operation of the pairing system

A pair is an arrangement whereby a Government Deputy's name is linked with an Opposition Deputy in the event of a Vote arising. The practice is that under such an arrangement neither Deputy votes in any Division arising while the pairing agreement is valid. Because it is obviously so important for the Government to maintain its majority in the Dáil Chamber the pairing arrangements must be attended to very carefully. If a member cannot attend a notice explaining their absence must be sent to the Chief Whip as early as possible.

Leinster House accommodation for political parties

The Minister has to ensure that facilities and services in Leinster House are satisfactory for members and staff. The Opposition Whips liaise with him on matters such as office equipment which they may require.

Chairing Legislation Committee

The Chief Whip chairs the weekly meeting of the Legislation Committee. This Committee meets to discuss the progress of Bills in Departments and tries to ensure that there is always enough business for the Dáil and Seanad. The meeting is attended by the Attorney General, a Parliamentary Draftsman, Programme Manager to the Taoiseach, Programme Manager to the Tánaiste, Principal Officer in this Department (who looks after legislation) and the Chief Whip.

List of government chief whips

Parliamentary Secretary to the President 1922–1937
Name	Term of office		Party		Executive Council
Daniel McCarthy	6 December 1922	31 March 1924		Cumann na nGaedheal	1st • 2nd
James Dolan	19 June 1924	24 June 1927		Cumann na nGaedheal	2nd
Eamonn Duggan	24 June 1927	9 March 1932		Cumann na nGaedheal	3rd • 4th • 5th
Gerald Boland	9 March 1932	7 February 1933		Fianna Fáil	6th
Patrick Little	8 February 1933	29 December 1937		Fianna Fáil	7th • 8th
Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach 1937–1977
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Patrick Little	29 December 1937	26 September 1939		Fianna Fáil	1st • 2nd
Paddy Smith	27 September 1939	2 July 1943		Fianna Fáil	2nd
Eamon Kissane	2 July 1943	18 February 1948		Fianna Fáil	3rd • 4th
Liam Cosgrave	18 February 1948	13 June 1951		Fine Gael	5th
Donnchadh Ó Briain	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fianna Fáil	6th
Denis J. O'Sullivan	2 June 1954	20 March 1957		Fine Gael	7th
Donnchadh Ó Briain	20 March 1957	11 October 1961		Fianna Fáil	8th • 9th
Joseph Brennan	11 October 1961	21 April 1965		Fianna Fáil	10th
Michael Carty	21 April 1965	2 July 1969		Fianna Fáil	11th • 12th
Desmond O'Malley	2 July 1969	7 May 1970		Fianna Fáil	13th
David Andrews	8 May 1970	14 March 1973		Fianna Fáil	13th
John M. Kelly	14 March 1973	20 May 1977		Fine Gael	14th
Patrick Lalor	5 July 1977	1 January 1978		Fianna Fáil	15th
Ministers of State at the Department of the Taoiseach 1978–present
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Patrick Lalor	1 January 1978	1 July 1979		Fianna Fáil	15th
Michael Woods	1 July 1979	11 December 1979		Fianna Fáil	15th
Seán Moore	13 December 1979	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil	16th
Gerry L'Estrange	30 June 1981	11 November 1981		Fine Gael	17th
Fergus O'Brien	11 November 1981	9 March 1982		Fine Gael	17th
Bertie Ahern	9 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	18th
Seán Barrett[5]	14 December 1982	13 February 1986		Fine Gael	19th
Fergus O'Brien[5]	13 February 1986	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	19th
Vincent Brady	10 March 1987	14 November 1991		Fianna Fáil	20th • 21st
Dermot Ahern	15 November 1991	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil	21st
Noel Dempsey	11 February 1992	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil	22nd • 23rd
Seán Barrett	15 December 1994	23 May 1995		Fine Gael	24th
Jim Higgins	24 May 1995	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	24th
Séamus Brennan	26 June 1997	6 June 2002		Fianna Fáil	25th
Mary Hanafin	6 June 2002	29 September 2004		Fianna Fáil	26th
Tom Kitt	29 September 2004	7 May 2008		Fianna Fáil	26th • 27th
Pat Carey	7 May 2008	23 March 2010		Fianna Fáil	28th
John Curran	23 March 2010	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	28th
Paul Kehoe	9 March 2011	6 May 2016		Fine Gael	29th
Regina Doherty	6 May 2016	14 June 2017		Fine Gael	30th
Joe McHugh	14 June 2017	16 October 2018		Fine Gael	31st
Seán Kyne	16 October 2018	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	31st
Dara Calleary	27 June 2020	15 July 2020		Fianna Fáil	32nd
Jack Chambers	15 July 2020	17 December 2022		Fianna Fáil	32nd[6]
Hildegarde Naughton	17 December 2022	Incumbent		Fine Gael	33rd • 34th

Other ministers of state at the Department of the Taoiseach 1986–present

Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibility	Government
Seán Barrett	13 February 1986	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	Dáil Reform	19th
Nuala Fennell	16 December 1982	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	Women's Affairs and Family Law Reform
Ted Nealon	16 December 1982	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	Arts and Culture[7]
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn	12 March 1987	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	Co-ordination of Government policy and EC matters	20th
	19 July 1989	15 November 1991				21st
Noel Treacy	30 June 1988	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	Heritage	20th
Brendan Daly	19 July 1989	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil	Heritage	21st
Michael P. Kitt	15 November 1991	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil	Co-ordination of Government policy and EC matters
Tom Kitt	13 February 1992	12 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	Arts and culture, Women's affairs and European affairs	22nd
	14 January 1993	15 December 1994			European affairs	23rd
Noel Treacy	14 January 1993	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil
Gay Mitchell	20 December 1994	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	European affairs	24th
Avril Doyle	27 January 1995	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	Consumers of Public Services
Donal Carey	27 January 1995	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	Western Development and Rural Renewal
Dick Roche	19 June 2002	29 September 2004		Fianna Fáil	European Affairs	26th
Noel Treacy	29 September 2004	20 June 2007		Fianna Fáil	European Affairs
Dick Roche	14 June 2007	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	European Affairs	27th • 28th
Dara Calleary	23 March 2010	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	Public service transformation	28th
Lucinda Creighton	10 March 2011	11 July 2013		Fine Gael	European Affairs	29th
Paschal Donohoe	12 July 2013	11 July 2014		Fine Gael	European Affairs
Jimmy Deenihan	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Fine Gael	Diaspora
Simon Harris	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Fine Gael
Dara Murphy	15 July 2014	20 June 2017		Fine Gael	European Affairs and Data protection	29th • 30th
Joe McHugh	19 May 2016	16 June 2017		Fine Gael	Diaspora	30th
Paul Kehoe	6 May 2016	14 June 2017		Fine Gael		30th • 31st
Helen McEntee	20 June 2017	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	European Affairs	31st
Pat Breen	20 June 2017	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	Data protection
Thomas Byrne	1 July 2020	21 December 2022		Fianna Fáil	European Affairs	32nd
Peter Burke	21 December 2022	9 April 2024		Fine Gael	European Affairs	33rd
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill	10 April 2024	Incumbent		Fine Gael	European Affairs	34th

References

1. "Constitution (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937; S.3: Adaptation of references to the President of the Executive Council and his Department". Irish Statute Book. 17 December 1937. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
2. "Government Chief Whip". Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
3. MacCarthaigh, Muiris (2005). "How parliamentary accountability functions in Ireland". Accountability in Irish parliamentary politics. Institute of Public Administration. pp. 147–150. ISBN 978-1-904541-31-8. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
4. "Oireachtas (Allowances) (Members and Holders of Parliamentary and Certain Ministerial Offices) Order 2020". Irish Statute Book. 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
5. "Ministerial Assignments and Titles: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Thursday, 13 February 1986". Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
6. "Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil)". Houses of the Oireachtas. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
7. "Taoiseach (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1984". Irish Statute Book. 7 February 1984. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.