List of female ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland
List of women appointed as Minister of State by the Government of Ireland
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A minister of state in Ireland (also called a junior minister) is of non-cabinet rank attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland and assists a minister of that government.
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As of 2026[update], 38 women have served as ministers of state in Ireland. Six of the 23 ministers of state appointed by the government of Micheál Martin in January 2025 were women, with two regularly attending cabinet. Some Ministers of State, including the Government Chief Whip,[1] attend cabinet meetings in a non-voting capacity, but are not members of the Government. They are formally known as "Minister of State attending Government",[2][3] or colloquially as "Super Junior" ministers.[4] There are currently four Ministers of State who regularly attend cabinet, two of whom are women.
Appointment
The Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 allowed the Executive Council (from 1937, the Government of Ireland) to appoint up to seven Parliamentary Secretaries to the Executive Council or to Executive Ministers.[5] The Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1977 abolished the position of Parliamentary Secretary, and created the new position of Minister of State.[6] This Act was commenced on 1 January 1978.[7] Unlike senior government ministers, who are appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach and the prior approval of Dáil Éireann, Ministers of State are appointed directly by the government, on the nomination of the Taoiseach. Members of either House of the Oireachtas (Dáil or Seanad) may be appointed to be a minister of state at a Department of State.
History
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was the first and only woman to be appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary, when she was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce by Jack Lynch in 1977. She was the first woman to be appointed as a minister of state in 1978, as Minister of State at the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy. In 1979, Geoghegan-Quinn would become the first women appointed to cabinet since 1921. There has been at least one woman minister of state in all appointments since June 1981. To date, only one Senator, Pippa Hackett, who was appointed in June 2020, has been appointed as a minister of state.
List of women ministers of state
| No. | Name | Department(s) | Responsibility | Party | Appointed | Left office | Taoiseach | Govt. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Máire Geoghegan-Quinn[a] (born 1950)[8] |
Industry and Commerce[9] | Parliamentary Secretary[10] | Fianna Fáil | 5 July 1977 | 1 January 1978 | Jack Lynch | 15th | |
| Industry, Commerce and Energy | Minister of State[10] | 1 January 1978 | 11 December 1979 | 15th | |||||
| Education[11] | Youth and Sport[12] | 23 March 1982 | 14 December 1982 | Charles Haughey | 18th | ||||
| Taoiseach[13] | Co-ordination of Government policy and EC matters[14] | 12 March 1987 | 12 July 1989 | 20th | |||||
| Taoiseach[15] | Co-ordinator of Government Policy and EC matters[16] | 19 July 1989 | 11 February 1992 | 21st | |||||
| 2 | Mary Flaherty (born 1953)[17] |
Health[18] Social Welfare |
Poverty and the Family[19] | Fine Gael | 30 June 1981 | 9 March 1982 | Garret FitzGerald | 17th | |
| 3 | Nuala Fennell (1935–2009)[20] |
Taoiseach[21] | Women's Affairs[22] | Fine Gael | 16 December 1982 | 10 March 1987 | Garret FitzGerald | 19th | |
| Justice[23] | Family Law Reform[22] | 7 January 1983 | 10 March 1987 | ||||||
| 4 | Avril Doyle (born 1949)[24] |
Finance[25] Environment |
Office of Public Works Environmental Protection[22] |
Fine Gael | 13 February 1986 | 10 March 1987 | Garret FitzGerald | 19th | |
| Taoiseach[26] Finance Transport, Energy and Communications |
Consumers of Public Services[27] | 27 January 1995 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | ||||
| 5 | Mary Harney[a] (born 1953)[28] |
Environment[15][29] | Protection of the Environment[16] | Progressive Democrats | 19 July 1989 | 11 February 1992 | Charles Haughey | 21st | |
| 11 February 1992 | 4 November 1992 | Albert Reynolds | 22nd | ||||||
| 6 | Mary O'Rourke[a] (1937–2024)[30] |
Industry and Commerce[29] | Trade and Marketing[16] | Fianna Fáil | 13 February 1992 | 12 January 1993 | Albert Reynolds | 22nd | |
| Enterprise and Employment[31] | Labour Affairs[27] | 14 January 1993 | 15 December 1994 | 23rd | |||||
| 7= | Eithne FitzGerald (born 1950)[32] |
Finance[31] | Office of the Tánaiste, National Development Plan[27] |
Labour | 14 January 1993 | 17 November 1994 | Albert Reynolds | 23rd | |
| Enterprise and Employment[33] | Office of the Tánaiste, Labour Affairs[27] |
20 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | ||||
| 7= | Joan Burton[a] (born 1949)[34] |
Social Welfare[31] | Poverty, Tax and Social Welfare Codes[27] |
Labour | 14 January 1993 | 17 November 1994 | Albert Reynolds | 23rd | |
| Foreign Affairs[33] Justice |
Overseas Development Assistance[27] | 20 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | ||||
| 9 | Liz McManus (born 1947)[35] |
Environment[33] | Environment[27] | Democratic Left | 20 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | John Bruton | 24th | |
| 10 | Liz O'Donnell (born 1956)[36] |
Foreign Affairs[37] | Overseas Development Assistance, Human Rights[38] |
Progressive Democrats | 1 July 1997 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
| Minister of State to the Government[38] | 11 April 2002 | 6 June 2002 | |||||||
| 11 | Mary Wallace (born 1959)[39] |
Justice, Equality and Law Reform[37] | Equality, Disabilities[38] |
Fianna Fáil | 8 July 1997 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
| Agriculture and Food[40] | Forestry[41] | 14 February 2006 | 14 June 2007 | 26th | |||||
| Agriculture, Fisheries and Food[42] | Forestry[43] | 20 June 2007 | 7 May 2008 | 27th | |||||
| Health and Children[44] | Health Promotion, Food Safety[45] |
13 May 2008 | 22 April 2009 | Brian Cowen | 28th | ||||
| 12 | Mary Hanafin[a] (born 1959)[46] |
Health and Children[47] Justice, Equality and Law Reform Education and Science |
Children[38] | Fianna Fáil | 1 February 2000 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
| Taoiseach[48] Defence |
Government Chief Whip, Defence, Information society[41] |
6 June 2002 | 29 September 2004 | 26th | |||||
| 13 | Mary Coughlan[a] (born 1965)[49] |
Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands[50] | Gaeltacht, The Islands[38] |
Fianna Fáil | 19 February 2001 | 6 June 2002 | Bertie Ahern | 25th | |
| 14 | Síle de Valera[a] (born 1954)[51] |
Education and Science[52] | Adult Education, Youth Affairs, Educational Disadvantage[41] |
Fianna Fáil | 19 June 2002 | 8 December 2006 | Bertie Ahern | 26th | |
| 15 | Máire Hoctor (born 1963)[53] |
Health and Children[42] Social and Family Affairs Environment, Heritage and Local Government |
Services for Older People[43] | Fianna Fáil | 9 July 2007 | 7 May 2008 | Bertie Ahern | 27th | |
| Health and Children[44] Social and Family Affairs Environment, Heritage and Local Government |
Older People[45] | 13 May 2008 | 22 April 2009 | Brian Cowen | 28th | ||||
| 16 | Áine Brady (born 1954)[54] |
Health and Children[55] Social and Family Affairs Environment, Heritage and Local Government |
Older People, Health Promotion[45] |
Fianna Fáil | 22 April 2009 | 9 March 2011 | Brian Cowen | 28th | |
| 17 | Mary White (born 1948)[56] |
Justice and Law Reform[57] Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs Education and Skills |
Equality and Human Rights, Integration[45] |
Green | 23 March 2010 | 23 January 2011 | Brian Cowen | 28th | |
| 18= | Róisín Shortall (born 1954)[58] |
Health[59] | Primary Care[60] | Labour | 10 March 2011 | 26 September 2012 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
| 18= | Jan O'Sullivan[a] (born 1950)[61] |
Foreign Affairs and Trade[59] | Trade and Development[60] | Labour | 10 March 2011 | 20 December 2011 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
| Environment, Community and Local Government | Housing and Planning[60][b] | 20 December 2011 | 11 July 2014 | ||||||
| 18= | Kathleen Lynch (born 1953)[62] |
Justice and Equality[59] Health |
Disability, Equality, Mental Health[60] |
Labour | 10 March 2011 | 15 July 2014 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
| Health[63] | Primary Care, Mental Health, Disability |
15 July 2014 | 6 May 2016 | ||||||
| 18= | Lucinda Creighton (born 1980)[64] |
Taoiseach[59] Foreign Affairs and Trade |
European Affairs[60] | Fine Gael | 10 March 2011 | 11 July 2013 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
| 22 | Ann Phelan (born 1961)[65] |
Agriculture, Food and the Marine[63] Transport, Tourism and Sport |
Rural Economic Development, Rural Transport[60] |
Labour | 15 July 2014 | 6 May 2016 | Enda Kenny | 29th | |
| 23 | Regina Doherty[a] (born 1971)[66] |
Taoiseach[67] | Government Chief Whip[b] | Fine Gael | 6 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
| 24= | Helen McEntee[a] (born 1986)[68] |
Health[69] | Mental Health, Older People |
Fine Gael | 19 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
| Foreign Affairs and Trade[70] | European Affairs | 20 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | Leo Varadkar | 31st | ||||
| 24= | Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (born 1963)[71] |
Health[69] | Health Promotion | Fine Gael | 19 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
| 24= | Catherine Byrne (born 1956)[72] |
Health[69] Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government |
Communities, National Drugs Strategy |
Fine Gael | 19 May 2016 | 14 June 2017 | Enda Kenny | 30th | |
| Health[70] | Health Promotion, National Drugs Strategy |
20 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | Leo Varadkar | 31st | ||||
| 27 | Mary Mitchell O'Connor[a] (born 1959)[73] |
Education and Skills[74] | Higher Education[b] | Fine Gael | 14 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | Leo Varadkar | 31st | |
| 28= | Hildegarde Naughton (born 1977)[75] |
Transport[76] Environment, Climate and Communications |
International and Road Transport and Logistics Postal Policy and Eircodes[b] |
Fine Gael | 27 June 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
| Health | Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy | 21 December 2022 | 10 April 2024 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||
| Taoiseach[77] | Government Chief Whip[b] | 21 December 2022 | 23 January 2025 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||
| Education | Special education and inclusion | 10 April 2024 | 23 January 2025 | Simon Harris | 34th | ||||
| Children, Disability and Equality[78] | Disability[b] | 23 January 2025 | 18 November 2025 | Micheál Martin | 35th | ||||
| 28= | Pippa Hackett (born 1974)[79] |
Agriculture, Food and the Marine[76][77] | Land Use and Biodiversity[b] | Green | 27 June 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
| 21 December 2022 | 23 January 2025 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
| Simon Harris | 34th | ||||||||
| 30= | Josepha Madigan[a] (born 1970)[80] |
Education[81][77] | Special Education and Inclusion | Fine Gael | 1 July 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
| 21 December 2022 | 22 March 2024 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
| 30= | Anne Rabbitte (born 1973)[82] |
Health[81] Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth[77] |
Disability | Fianna Fáil | 1 July 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
| 21 December 2022 | 23 January 2025 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
| Simon Harris | 34th | ||||||||
| 30= | Mary Butler (born 1973)[83] |
Health[81][77] | Mental Health, Older People |
Fianna Fáil | 1 July 2020 | 21 December 2022 | Micheál Martin | 32nd | |
| 21 December 2022 | 23 January 2025 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | ||||||
| Simon Harris | 34th | ||||||||
| Taoiseach[78] | Government Chief Whip[b] | 23 January 2025 | Incumbent | Micheál Martin | 35th | ||||
| Health[78] | Mental Health | ||||||||
| 33 | Jennifer Carroll MacNeill[a] (born 1980)[84] |
Finance[77] | Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance | Fine Gael | 21 December 2022 | 10 April 2024 | Leo Varadkar | 33rd | |
| Foreign Affairs | European Affairs | 10 April 2024 | 23 January 2025 | Simon Harris | 34th | ||||
| 34 | Emer Higgins (born 1985)[85] |
Enterprise, Trade and Employment | Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses | Fine Gael | 10 April 2024 | 23 January 2025 | Simon Harris | 34th | |
| Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation | Public procurement, digitalisation and eGovernment | 29 January 2025 | 18 November 2025 | Micheál Martin | 35th | ||||
| Children, Disability and Equality | Disability[b] | 18 November 2025 | Incumbent | Micheál Martin | 35th | ||||
| 35= | Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (born 1966)[86] |
Health | Public health, well-being and drugs | Fianna Fáil | 29 January 2025 | Incumbent | Micheál Martin | 35th | |
| 35= | Niamh Smyth (born 1978)[87] |
Enterprise, Tourism and Employment | Trade promotion, artificial intelligence and digital transformation | Fianna Fáil | 29 January 2025 | Incumbent | Micheál Martin | 35th | |
| 35= | Marian Harkin (born 1953)[88] |
Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science | Further education, apprenticeship, construction and climate skills | Independent | 25 February 2025 | Incumbent | Micheál Martin | 35th | |
| 38 | Catherine Ardagh (born 1982)[89] |
Justice, Home Affairs and Migration | International law, law reform and youth justice | Fianna Fáil | 28 May 2026 | Incumbent | Micheál Martin | 35th | |
Timeline
Notes
- Also served as a senior cabinet minister.
- In attendance at cabinet as "super junior" minister.