Minister for Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands (Ireland)

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Incumbent Regina Doherty since 14 June 2017
Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection
Member of	Cabinet Council of the European Union Dáil Éireann
Reports to	Taoiseach
Seat	Dublin, Ireland
Appointer	President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder	James Ryan as Minister for Social Welfare
Formation	22 January 1947
Website	welfare.ie

The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Irish: An tAire Gnóthaí Fostaíochta agus Coimirce Sóisialaí) is the senior minister at the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in the Government of Ireland.

The current Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection is Regina Doherty, TD. She is assisted by: Finian McGrath, TD, the Minister of State for Disability Issues, and Pat Breen, TD, the Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection.

Overview

The Department was formed in 1947 as the Department of Social Welfare. Its present title dates from 2017. The Department formulates appropriate social protection policies and administers and manages the delivery of statutory and non-statutory schemes and services. It is also responsible for the delivery of a range of social insurance and social assistance schemes including provision for unemployment, illness, maternity, caring, widowhood, retirement and old age.

List of office-holders

Minister for Social Welfare 1947–1997
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
1.	*James Ryan (1st time)	22 January 1947	18 February 1948	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
2.	William Norton	18 February 1948	14 June 1951	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Labour Party
	*James Ryan (2nd time)	14 June 1951	2 June 1954	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
3.	Brendan Corish (1st time)	2 June 1954	20 March 1957	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Labour Party
4.	Paddy Smith	20 March 1957	27 November 1957	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
5.	*Seán MacEntee	27 November 1957	12 October 1961	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
6.	Kevin Boland (1st time)	12 October 1961	16 November 1966	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
7.	Joseph Brennan (1st time)	16 November 1966	2 July 1969	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
	Kevin Boland (2nd time)	2 July 1969	6 May 1970	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
	Joseph Brennan (2nd time)	6 May 1970	14 March 1973	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
	*Brendan Corish (2nd time)	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Labour Party
8.	*Charles Haughey	5 July 1977	12 December 1979	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
9.	*Michael Woods (1st time)	12 December 1979	30 June 1981	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
10.	*Eileen Desmond	30 June 1981	9 March 1982	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Labour Party
	*Michael Woods (2nd time)	9 March 1982	14 December 1982	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
11.	*Barry Desmond	14 December 1982	14 February 1986	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Labour Party
12.	Gemma Hussey	14 February 1986	10 March 1987	style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" |	Fine Gael
	Michael Woods (3rd time)	10 March 1987	13 November 1991	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
13.	Brendan Daly	13 November 1991	11 February 1992	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
14.	Charlie McCreevy	11 February 1992	12 January 1993	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
	*Michael Woods (4th time)	12 January 1993	15 December 1994	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
15.	Proinsias De Rossa	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	style="background-color: Template:Democratic Left (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Democratic Left
Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs 1997–2002
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
16.	Dermot Ahern	26 June 1997	17 June 2002	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
Minister for Social and Family Affairs 2002–2010
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
17.	Mary Coughlan	17 June 2002	29 September 2004	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
18.	Séamus Brennan	29 September 2004	14 June 2007	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
19.	Martin Cullen	14 June 2007	7 May 2008	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
20.	Mary Hanafin	7 May 2008	23 March 2010	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
Minister for Social Protection 2010–2017
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
21.	Éamon Ó Cuív	23 March 2010	9 March 2011	style="background-color: Template:Fianna Fáil/meta/color" |	Fianna Fáil
22.	Joan Burton	9 March 2011	6 May 2016	style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (Ireland)/meta/color" |	Labour Party
23.	Leo Varadkar	6 May 2016	14 June 2017	style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" |	Fine Gael
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection 2017–present
No.	Name	Term of office		Party
24.	Regina Doherty	14 June 2017	Incumbent	style="background-color: Template:Fine Gael/meta/color" |	Fine Gael

An asterisk (*) indicates those ministers who held the Health and Social Welfare portfolios simultaneously.

See also

• Irish cabinets since 1919
• Personal Public Service Number

External links

• Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection