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Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

(Redirected from Government Chief Whip (Ireland))

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
since 17 December 2022
AppointerTaoiseach
Inaugural holderDaniel McCarthy (as Parliamentary Secretary to the President)
Formation6 December 1922
DeputyCormac 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of Ireland, the position was changed to that of Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach.[1] In 1978, the position was superseded by the office of Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach.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

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

Attendance at Government meetings

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Parliamentary Secretary to the President 1922–1937

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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

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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

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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

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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

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  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. ^ a b "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.
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