Pat Breen

Patrick Breen (born 21 March 1957) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection from 2017 to 2020 and Minister of State for Employment and Small Business from 2016 to 2020. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Clare constituency from 2002 to 2020.[1]

Pat Breen
Breen in 2017
Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection
In office 20 July 2017 – 27 June 2020
Taoiseach	Leo Varadkar
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister of State for Employment and Small Business
In office 19 May 2016 – 20 July 2017
Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
Preceded by	Ged Nash
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Teachta Dála
In office May 2002 – February 2020
Constituency	Clare
Personal details
Born	(1957-03-21) 21 March 1957 Ennis, County Clare, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse(s)	Ann McInerney (m. 1993)
Children	2
Alma mater	Limerick Institute of Technology

Having been a member of Clare County Council and the Vocational Educational Committee from June 1999 to May 2002, Breen was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2002 general election.[2] He was the Chairman of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee and is deputy leader of the Irish Delegation to the Council of Europe.

While Fine Gael were in opposition, Breen was the Fine Gael deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, with special responsibility for Human Rights and Overseas Development Aid; and deputy Spokesperson on Transport and Enterprise, and Enterprise, Trade and Employment, with special responsibility for Small Business. He has also served as a member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, the Privileges and Procedures Committee, the House Services Committee and the Committee on Enterprise and Small Business.

In May 2016, he was appointed Minister of State for Employment and Small Business, until he was appointed Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection in June 2017.

He lost his seat at the 2020 general election.