# Minister for Education (Ireland)

The Minister for Education and Youth (Irish: An tAire Oideachais agus Óige) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Education and Youth. The current Minister for Education and Youth is Helen McEntee, TD.
She is assisted by one Minister of State:

## Functions

The minister engages in a wide range of activities relating to education in Ireland, including policy planning, quality assurance and the provision of a broad range of services.
The department officially aims to:
* Promote equity and inclusion
* Promote lifelong learning
* Plan for education that is relevant to personal, social, cultural and economic needs.
In recent years some of these functions have been devolved to statutory authorities, in particular the Higher Education Authority, the National Qualifications Authority and the State Examinations Commission. Irish universities and colleges are to a large extent free of government control, with this being largely limited to policy formation and statistics preparation.

## History

In 1919, the Gaelic League passed a motion calling for the Dáil to appoint a Minister for Irish, which was read into the record of the Dáil by the Ceann Comhairle. On 29 June 1920, John J. O'Kelly, known in Irish as Seán Ua Ceallaigh, and also by the pen name Sceilg, was appointed as Minister for Irish. The portfolio was created to promote the use of the Irish language throughout the country.
After the Second Dáil met in August 1921, the President Éamon de Valera proposed that this position be altered to that of Minister for Education, saying "It was obvious the Minister in charge should be capable of dealing with the part referring to Irish but he thought the Department should have a wider meaning than at present". This was accepted by the Dáil. The following day, when de Valera proposed his new ministry, O'Kelly was proposed as Minister for Education, continuing in his previous position with an expanded function.
It was given a statutory basis in the Irish Free State as one of the positions in the Executive Council under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924.

## List of office-holders

Minister for Irish 1920–1921 :
| Name | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Party | Government(s) |
| John J. O'Kelly | 29 June 1920 | 26 August 1921 | | Sinn Féin | 2nd DM |
| Minister for Education 1921–1997 ||||||
| Name | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Party | Government(s) |
| John J. O'Kelly | 26 August 1921 | 9 January 1922 | | Sinn Féin | 3rd DM |
| Michael Hayes | 11 January 1922 | 9 September 1922 | | Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty) | 4th DM |
| Fionán Lynch | 1 April 1922 | 30 August 1922 | | Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty) | 1st PG |
| Eoin MacNeill | 30 August 1922 | 24 November 1925 | | Cumann na nGaedheal | 2nd PG • 5th DM • 1st EC • 2nd EC |
| John M. O'Sullivan | 28 January 1926 | 9 March 1932 | | Cumann na nGaedheal | 3rd EC • 4th EC • 5th EC |
| Thomas Derrig (1st time) | 9 March 1932 | 8 September 1939 | | Fianna Fáil | 6th EC • 7th EC • 8th EC • 1st • 2nd |
| Seán T. O'Kelly | 8 September 1939 | 27 September 1939 | | Fianna Fáil | 2nd |
| Éamon de Valera (acting) | 27 September 1939 | 18 June 1940 | | Fianna Fáil | 2nd |
| Thomas Derrig (2nd time) | 18 June 1940 | 18 February 1948 | | Fianna Fáil | 2nd • 3rd • 4th |
| Richard Mulcahy (1st time) | 18 February 1948 | 13 June 1951 | | Fine Gael | 5th |
| Seán Moylan | 13 June 1951 | 2 June 1954 | | Fianna Fáil | 6th |
| Richard Mulcahy (2nd time) | 2 June 1954 | 20 March 1957 | | Fine Gael | 7th |
| Jack Lynch (1st time) | 20 March 1957 | 23 June 1959 | | Fianna Fáil | 8th |
| Patrick Hillery | 23 June 1959 | 21 April 1965 | | Fianna Fáil | 9th • 10th |
| George Colley | 21 April 1965 | 13 July 1966 | | Fianna Fáil | 11th |
| Donogh O'Malley | 13 July 1966 | 10 March 1968 | | Fianna Fáil | 11th • 12th |
| Jack Lynch (acting) | 10 March 1968 | 26 March 1968 | | Fianna Fáil | 12th |
| Brian Lenihan | 26 March 1968 | 2 July 1969 | | Fianna Fáil | 12th |
| Pádraig Faulkner | 2 July 1969 | 14 March 1973 | | Fianna Fáil | 13th |
| Richard Burke | 14 March 1973 | 2 December 1976 | | Fine Gael | 14th |
| Peter Barry | 2 December 1976 | 5 July 1977 | | Fine Gael | 14th |
| John Wilson | 5 July 1977 | 30 June 1981 | | Fianna Fáil | 15th • 16th |
| John Boland | 30 June 1981 | 9 March 1982 | | Fine Gael | 17th |
| Martin O'Donoghue | 9 March 1982 | 6 October 1982 | | Fianna Fáil | 18th |
| Charles Haughey (acting) | 7 October 1982 | 27 October 1982 | | Fianna Fáil | 18th |
| Gerard Brady | 27 October 1982 | 14 December 1982 | | Fianna Fáil | 18th |
| Gemma Hussey | 14 December 1982 | 14 February 1986 | | Fine Gael | 19th |
| Patrick Cooney | 14 February 1986 | 10 March 1987 | | Fine Gael | 19th |
| Mary O'Rourke | 10 March 1987 | 14 November 1991 | | Fianna Fáil | 20th • 21st |
| Noel Davern | 14 November 1991 | 11 February 1992 | | Fianna Fáil | 21st |
| Séamus Brennan | 11 February 1992 | 12 January 1993 | | Fianna Fáil | 22nd |
| Niamh Bhreathnach (1st time) | 12 January 1993 | 17 November 1994 | | Labour | 23rd |
| Michael Smith | 18 November 1994 | 15 December 1994 | | Fianna Fáil | 23rd |
| Niamh Bhreathnach (2nd time) | 15 December 1994 | 26 June 1997 | | Labour | 24th |
| Micheál Martin | 26 June 1997 | 30 September 1997 | | Fianna Fáil | 25th |
| Minister for Education and Science 1997–2010 ||||||
| Name | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Party | Government(s) |
| Micheál Martin | 30 September 1997 | 27 January 2000 | | Fianna Fáil | 25th |
| Michael Woods | 27 January 2000 | 6 June 2002 | | Fianna Fáil | 25th |
| Noel Dempsey | 6 June 2002 | 29 September 2004 | | Fianna Fáil | 26th |
| Mary Hanafin | 29 September 2004 | 7 May 2008 | | Fianna Fáil | 26th • 27th |
| Batt O'Keeffe | 7 May 2008 | 23 March 2010 | | Fianna Fáil | 27th • 28th |
| Mary Coughlan | 23 March 2010 | 2 May 2010 | | Fianna Fáil | 28th |
| Minister for Education and Skills 2010–2020 ||||||
| Name | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Party | Government(s) |
| Mary Coughlan | 2 May 2010 | 9 March 2011 | | Fianna Fáil | 28th |
| Ruairi Quinn | 9 March 2011 | 11 July 2014 | | Labour | 29th |
| Jan O'Sullivan | 11 July 2014 | 6 May 2016 | | Labour | 29th |
| Richard Bruton | 6 May 2016 | 16 October 2018 | | Fine Gael | 30th • 31st |
| Joe McHugh | 16 October 2018 | 27 June 2020 | | Fine Gael | 31st |
| Norma Foley | 27 June 2020 | 22 October 2020 | | Fianna Fáil | 32nd |
| Minister for Education 2020–2025 ||||||
| Name | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Party | Government(s) |
| Norma Foley | 22 October 2020 | 23 January 2025 | | Fianna Fáil | 32nd • 33rd • 34th |
| Minister for Education and Youth 2025–present ||||||
| Name | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Party | Government(s) |
| Helen McEntee | 23 January 2025 | Incumbent | | Fine Gael | 35th |

### Notes

* ↑ Before 1937: DM – Dáil Ministry; PG – Provisional Government; EC – Executive Council.
* ↑ John J. O'Kelly held the title of Secretary for Education.