The Minister for Education and Science (Irish: An Aire Oideachais agus Eolaíochta) is the senior minister at the Department of Education and Science in the Government of Ireland.

The current Minister for Education and Science is Batt O'Keeffe, TD. He is assisted by:

• Barry Andrews, TD – Minister of State for Children and Youth Affairs.
• Seán Haughey, TD – Minister of State for Lifelong Learning and School Transport.
• Conor Lenihan, TD – Minister of State for Science, Technology, Innovation and Natural Resources.
• John Curran, TD – Minister of State for Integration and Community.
• John Moloney, TD – Minister of State for Equality, Disability Issues and Mental Health.

Until September 1997 the department was known simply as the "Department of Education".

Contents 1 Overview 2 List of office-holders 2.1 Minister for Education 1921–1997 2.2 Minister for Education and Science 1997–present 3 Footnotes 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Overview

The Minister engages in a wide range of activities relating to education in the Republic of 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.

[edit] List of office-holders

[edit] Minister for Education 1921–1997
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	1.	John J. O'Kelly[1]	26 August 1921	9 January 1922	Sinn Féin
	2.	Michael Hayes[2]	11 January 1922	9 September 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
	3.	Fionán Lynch[2]	1 April 1922	30 August 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
	4.	Eoin MacNeill	30 August 1922	24 November 1925	Cumann na nGaedhael
	5.	John M. O'Sullivan	28 January 1926	9 March 1932	Cumann na nGaedhael
	6.	Thomas Derrig (1st time)	9 March 1932	8 September 1939	Fianna Fáil
	7.	Seán T. O'Kelly	8 September 1939	27 September 1939	Fianna Fáil
	8.	Éamon de Valera (acting)	27 September 1939	18 June 1940	Fianna Fáil
		Thomas Derrig (2nd time)	18 June 1940	18 February 1948	Fianna Fáil
	9.	Richard Mulcahy (1st time)	18 February 1948	13 June 1951	Fine Gael
	10.	Seán Moylan	13 June 1951	2 June 1954	Fianna Fáil
		Richard Mulcahy (2nd time)	2 June 1954	20 March 1957	Fine Gael
	11.	Jack Lynch (1st time)	20 March 1957	23 June 1959	Fianna Fáil
	12.	Patrick Hillery	23 June 1959	21 April 1965	Fianna Fáil
	13.	George Colley	21 April 1965	13 July 1966	Fianna Fáil
	14.	Donogh O'Malley	13 July 1966	10 March 1968	Fianna Fáil
		Jack Lynch (acting)	10 March 1968	26 March 1968	Fianna Fáil
	15.	Brian Lenihan	26 March 1968	2 July 1969	Fianna Fáil
	16.	Pádraig Faulkner	2 July 1969	14 March 1973	Fianna Fáil
	17.	Richard Burke	14 March 1973	2 December 1976	Fine Gael
	18.	Peter Barry	2 December 1976	5 July 1977	Fine Gael
	19.	John Wilson	5 July 1977	30 June 1981	Fianna Fáil
	20.	John Boland	30 June 1981	9 March 1982	Fine Gael
	21.	Martin O'Donoghue	9 March 1982	6 October 1982	Fianna Fáil
	22.	Charles Haughey (acting)	7 October 1982	27 October 1982	Fianna Fáil
	23.	Gerard Brady	27 October 1982	14 December 1982	Fianna Fáil
	24.	Gemma Hussey	14 December 1982	14 February 1986	Fine Gael
	25.	Patrick Cooney	14 February 1986	10 March 1987	Fine Gael
	26.	Mary O'Rourke	10 March 1987	14 November 1991	Fianna Fáil
	27.	Noel Davern	14 November 1991	11 February 1992	Fianna Fáil
	28.	Séamus Brennan	11 February 1992	12 January 1993	Fianna Fáil
	29.	Niamh Bhreathnach (1st time)	12 January 1993	17 November 1994	Labour Party
	30.	Michael Smith	18 November 1994	15 December 1994	Fianna Fáil
		Niamh Bhreathnach (2nd time)	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	Labour Party
	31.	Micheál Martin	26 June 1997	30 September 1997	Fianna Fáil
[edit] Minister for Education and Science 1997–present
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Micheál Martin	30 September 1997	27 January 2000	Fianna Fáil
	32.	Michael Woods	27 January 2000	6 June 2002	Fianna Fáil
	33.	Noel Dempsey	6 June 2002	29 September 2004	Fianna Fáil
	34.	Mary Hanafin	29 September 2004	7 May 2008	Fianna Fáil
	35.	Batt O'Keeffe	7 May 2008	Incumbent	Fianna Fáil

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] See also

• Irish cabinets since 1919

[edit] External links

• Department of Education and Science

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