Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Irish: An tAire Fiontar, Trádála agus Fostaíochta) is the senior minister at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the Government of Ireland.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Incumbent
Leo Varadkar
since 27 June 2020
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Member of
Reports toTaoiseach
SeatDublin, Ireland
AppointerPresident of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holderErnest Blythe as Director of Trade and Commerce
Formation17 June 1919
WebsiteDepartment of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

The current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is Tánaiste and Leader of Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar, TD.

He is assisted by two Ministers of State:

Overview

The Minister heads one of the most important economic departments in the Irish Government, responsible for the implementation of policy in five key areas – Enterprise, Innovation, Growth; Quality, Work and Learning; Making Markets and Regulation work better; Quality, Value and Continuous Improvement; and the European Union. A large element of the work of the Department arises from Ireland's membership of a number of international organisations, in particular the European Union and the World Trade Organization. The Department plays an active role in the development of EU and WTO policies, particularly to ensure that Ireland's interests are protected. The Department is organised into five divisions. They are:

  • Innovation and Investment Division
  • Enterprise and Trade Division
  • Commerce, Consumer and Competition Division
  • Employment Rights and Industrial Relations Division
  • Corporate Services

List of office-holders
  Denotes acting Minister

Director of Trade and Commerce 1919–1921

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)[lower-alpha 1]
1 Ernest Blythe 17 June 1919 26 August 1921 Sinn Féin 2nd DM

Secretary for Trade and Commerce 1921–1922

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Ernest Blythe 26 August 1921 11 January 1922 Sinn Féin 3rd DM

Minister for Trade 1922

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Ernest Blythe 11 January 1922 30 August 1922 Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty) 4th DM · 1st PG

Minister for Industry and Commerce 1922–1977

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
2 Joseph McGrath 30 August 1922 7 March 1924 Cumann na nGaedheal 2nd PG · 5th DM · 1st EC · 2nd EC
3 Patrick McGilligan 4 April 1924 9 March 1932 Cumann na nGaedheal 2nd EC · 3rd EC · 4th EC · 5th EC
4 Seán Lemass (1st time) 9 March 1932 16 September 1939 Fianna Fáil 6th EC · 7th EC · 8th EC · 1st · 2nd
5 Seán MacEntee 16 September 1939 18 August 1941 Fianna Fáil 2nd
Seán Lemass (2nd time)[lower-alpha 2] 18 August 1941 18 February 1948 Fianna Fáil 2nd · 3rd · 4th
6 Daniel Morrissey 18 February 1948 7 March 1951 Fine Gael 5th
7 Thomas F. O'Higgins 7 March 1951 13 June 1951 Fine Gael 5th
Seán Lemass (3rd time) 13 June 1951 2 June 1954 Fianna Fáil 6th
8 William Norton 2 June 1954 20 March 1957 Labour 7th
Seán Lemass (4th time) 20 March 1957 23 June 1959 Fianna Fáil 8th
9 Jack Lynch 23 June 1959 21 April 1965 Fianna Fáil 9th · 10th
10 Patrick Hillery 21 April 1965 13 July 1966 Fianna Fáil 11th
11 George Colley 13 July 1966 9 May 1970 Fianna Fáil 12th · 13th
12 Patrick Lalor 9 May 1970 14 March 1973 Fianna Fáil 13th
13 Justin Keating 14 March 1973 5 July 1977 Labour 14th
14 Desmond O'Malley (1st time) 5 July 1977 23 September 1977 Fianna Fáil 15th

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy 1977–1980

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
  Desmond O'Malley 23 September 1977 23 January 1980 Fianna Fáil 15th · 16th

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism 1980–1981

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Desmond O'Malley 23 January 1980 30 June 1981 Fianna Fáil 16th
15 John Kelly 30 June 1981 21 August 1981 Fine Gael 17th

Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1981–1983

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
John Kelly 21 August 1981 9 March 1982 Fine Gael 17th
Desmond O'Malley (2nd time) 9 March 1982 6 October 1982 Fianna Fáil 18th
16 Paddy Power 7 October 1982 27 October 1982 Fianna Fáil 18th
17 Pádraig Flynn (1st time) 27 October 1982 14 December 1982 Fianna Fáil 18th
18 Frank Cluskey 14 December 1982 8 December 1983 Labour 19th
19 Garret FitzGerald (acting) 8 December 1983 13 December 1983 Fine Gael 19th
20 John Bruton 13 December 1983 17 December 1983 Fine Gael 19th

Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1983–1986

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
John Bruton 17 December 1983 14 February 1986 Fine Gael 19th
21 Michael Noonan 14 February 1986 19 February 1986 Fine Gael 19th

Minister for Industry and Commerce 1986–1993

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Michael Noonan 19 February 1986 10 March 1987 Fine Gael 19th
22 Albert Reynolds 10 March 1987 24 November 1988 Fianna Fáil 20th
23 Ray Burke 24 November 1988 12 July 1989 Fianna Fáil 20th
Desmond O'Malley (3rd time) 12 July 1989 4 November 1992 Progressive Democrats 21st · 22nd
Pádraig Flynn (2nd time) 5 November 1992 4 January 1993 Fianna Fáil 22nd
24 Bertie Ahern 4 January 1993 12 January 1993 Fianna Fáil 22nd
25 Ruairi Quinn 12 January 1993 21 January 1993 Labour 23rd

Minister for Enterprise and Employment 1993–1997

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Ruairi Quinn 21 January 1993 17 November 1994 Labour 23rd
26 Charlie McCreevy 18 November 1994 15 December 1994 Fianna Fáil 23rd
27 Richard Bruton 15 December 1994 26 June 1997 Fine Gael 24th
28 Mary Harney 26 June 1997 12 July 1997 Progressive Democrats 25th

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment 1997–2010

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Mary Harney 12 July 1997 29 September 2004 Progressive Democrats 25th · 26th
29 Micheál Martin 29 September 2004 7 May 2008 Fianna Fáil 26th · 27th
30 Mary Coughlan 7 May 2008 23 March 2010 Fianna Fáil 28th
31 Batt O'Keeffe 23 March 2010 2 May 2010 Fianna Fáil 28th

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation 2010–2011

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Batt O'Keeffe 2 May 2010 20 January 2011 Fianna Fáil 28th
32 Mary Hanafin 20 January 2011 9 March 2011 Fianna Fáil 28th
Richard Bruton (2nd time) 9 March 2011 2 June 2011 Fine Gael 29th

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 2011–2017

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Richard Bruton (2nd time) 2 June 2011 6 May 2016 Fine Gael 29th
33 Mary Mitchell O'Connor 6 May 2016 14 June 2017 Fine Gael 30th
34 Frances Fitzgerald 14 June 2017 2 September 2017 Fine Gael 31st

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation 2017–2020

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Frances Fitzgerald 2 September 2017 28 November 2017 Fine Gael 31st
35 Leo Varadkar (acting) 28 November 2017 30 November 2017 Fine Gael 31st
36 Heather Humphreys 30 November 2017 27 June 2020 Fine Gael 31st

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment 2020–present

No. Name Term of office Party Government(s)
Leo Varadkar 27 June 2020 Incumbent Fine Gael 32nd
Notes
  1. Before 1937: DM – Dáil Ministry; PG – Provisional Government; EC – Executive Council.
  2. Also Minister for Supplies from 8 September 1939 to 1 August 1945.

References
  1. "List of Ministers and Ministers of State", Government of Ireland, retrieved 31 July 2020
  2. "Ministers". Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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