The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Irish: Aire Fiontar, Trádála agus Fostaíochta) is the senior minister at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the Government of Ireland.

The current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is Mary Coughlan, TD. She is assisted by:

• Billy Kelleher, TD – Minister of State for Trade and Commerce.
• Dara Calleary, TD – Minister of State for Labour Affairs.
• Conor Lenihan, TD – Minister of State for Science, Technology, Innovation and Natural Resources.
• John Moloney, TD – Minister of State for Equality, Disability Issues and Mental Health.

Contents 1 Overview 2 List of office-holders 2.1 Minister for Trade and Commerce 1919–1922 2.2 Minister for Trade 1922 2.3 Minister for Industry and Commerce 1922–1977 2.4 Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy 1977–1980 2.5 Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism 1980–1981 2.6 Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1981–1983 2.7 Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1983–1986 2.8 Minister for Industry and Commerce 1986–1993 2.9 Minister for Enterprise and Employment 1993–1997 2.10 Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment 1997–present 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Overview

The Minister heads one of the most important economic departments in the Irish Government, responsible for the implementation of policy in five key areas - Enterprise, Innovation, Growth; Quality, Work and Learning; Making Markets and Regulation work better; Quality, Value and Continuous Improvement; and the European Union. A large element of the work of the Department arises from the Republic's membership of a number of international organisations, in particular the European Union and the World Trade Organisation. The Department plays an active role in the development of EU and WTO policies, particularly to ensure that the Republic's interests are protected. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment is organised into seven divisions. They are:

• Labour Force Development Division
• Competitiveness and International Affairs Division
• Employment Rights and Industrial Relations Division
• Science, Technology and Intellectual Property Division
• Corporate Services and Economic Policy Division
• Commerce, Consumers and Competition Division
• Enterprise and Agencies Division

[edit] List of office-holders

[edit] Minister for Trade and Commerce 1919–1922
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	1.	Ernest Blythe	17 June 1919	11 January 1922	Sinn Féin
[edit] Minister for Trade 1922
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Ernest Blythe	11 January 1922	30 August 1922	Sinn Féin
[edit] Minister for Industry and Commerce 1922–1977
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Ernest Blythe	30 August 1922	9 September 1922	Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin
	2.	Joseph McGrath	30 August 1922	7 March 1924	Cumann na nGaedhael
	3.	Patrick McGilligan	4 April 1924	9 March 1932	Cumann na nGaedhael
	4.	Seán Lemass (1st time)	9 March 1932	16 September 1939	Fianna Fáil
	5.	Seán MacEntee	16 September 1939	18 August 1941	Fianna Fáil
		Seán Lemass (2nd time)	18 August 1941	18 February 1948	Fianna Fáil
	6.	Daniel Morrissey	18 February 1948	7 March 1951	Fine Gael
	7.	Thomas F. O'Higgins	7 March 1951	13 June 1951	Fine Gael
		Seán Lemass (3rd time)	13 June 1951	2 June 1954	Fianna Fáil
	8.	William Norton	2 June 1954	20 March 1957	Labour Party
		Seán Lemass (4th time)	20 March 1957	23 June 1959	Fianna Fáil
	9.	Jack Lynch	23 June 1959	21 April 1965	Fianna Fáil
	10.	Patrick Hillery	21 April 1965	13 July 1966	Fianna Fáil
	11.	George Colley	13 July 1966	9 May 1970	Fianna Fáil
	12.	Patrick Lalor	9 May 1970	14 March 1973	Fianna Fáil
	13.	Justin Keating	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	Labour Party
	14.	Desmond O'Malley (1st time)	5 July 1977	23 September 1977	Fianna Fáil
[edit] Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy 1977–1980
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Desmond O'Malley	23 September 1977	23 January 1980	Fianna Fáil
[edit] Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism 1980–1981
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Desmond O'Malley	23 January 1980	30 June 1981	Fianna Fáil
	15.	John Kelly	30 June 1981	21 August 1981	Fine Gael
[edit] Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1981–1983
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		John Kelly	21 August 1981	9 March 1982	Fine Gael
		Desmond O'Malley (2nd time)	9 March 1982	6 October 1982	Fianna Fáil
	16.	Paddy Power	7 October 1982	27 October 1982	Fianna Fáil
	17.	Pádraig Flynn (1st time)	27 October 1982	14 December 1982	Fianna Fáil
	18.	Frank Cluskey	14 December 1982	8 December 1983	Labour Party
	19.	Garret FitzGerald (acting)	8 December 1983	13 December 1983	Fine Gael
	20.	John Bruton	13 December 1983	17 December 1983	Fine Gael
[edit] Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1983–1986
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		John Bruton	17 December 1983	14 February 1986	Fine Gael
	21.	Michael Noonan	14 February 1986	19 February 1986	Fine Gael
[edit] Minister for Industry and Commerce 1986–1993
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Michael Noonan	19 February 1986	10 March 1987	Fine Gael
	22.	Albert Reynolds	10 March 1987	24 November 1988	Fianna Fáil
	23.	Ray Burke	24 November 1988	12 July 1989	Fianna Fáil
		Desmond O'Malley (3rd time)	12 July 1989	4 November 1992	Progressive Democrats
		Pádraig Flynn (2nd time)	5 November 1992	4 January 1993	Fianna Fáil
	24.	Bertie Ahern	4 January 1993	12 January 1993	Fianna Fáil
	25.	Ruairi Quinn	12 January 1993	21 January 1993	Labour Party
[edit] Minister for Enterprise and Employment 1993–1997
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Ruairi Quinn	21 January 1993	17 November 1994	Labour Party
	26.	Charlie McCreevy	18 November 1994	15 December 1994	Fianna Fáil
	27.	Richard Bruton	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	Fine Gael
	28.	Mary Harney	26 June 1997	12 July 1997	Progressive Democrats
[edit] Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment 1997–present
No.		Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
		Mary Harney	12 July 1997	29 September 2004	Progressive Democrats
	29.	Micheál Martin	29 September 2004	7 May 2008	Fianna Fáil
	30.	Mary Coughlan	7 May 2008	Incumbent	Fianna Fáil

[edit] See also

• Irish cabinets since 1919
• Irish Minister for Supplies

[edit] External links

• Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

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