Minister for Finance (Ireland)
The Minister for Finance () is the senior minister at the Department of Finance in the Government of Ireland. The minister is responsible for all financial and monetary matters of the state, and is considered the second most important member of the Government of Ireland, after the Taoiseach. The current office holder is Paschal Donohoe, TD. Overview. The Minister for Finance holds the second most important ministerial position in the Irish Cabinet after that of the Taoiseach. He or she is in charge of the Department of Finance responsible for all financial matters in the Republic of  Ireland. It the is one of three positions in the government which the Constitution requires to be a member of Dáil Éireann, the other two being Taoiseach and Tánaiste. Many Ministers who have held the Finance portfolio have gone on to become Taoiseach, including Jack Lynch, Charles Haughey, Albert Reynolds, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen. The department and minister are occasionally called the "Irish Exchequer" (or simply the "Exchequer"), a term previously used under the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. Budget. One of the most important aspects of the Minister's work is the creation of the  annual Budget which is announced to the Dáil in a speech, which must be delivered before 15 October due to the Two-Pack agreement. In the budget the Minister details the Government's spending programme for the coming year. The budget consists of: