Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs explained

The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs is a junior ministerial post in the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Ireland who may perform functions delegated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. A Minister of State does not hold cabinet rank.

There are currently two Ministers of State:^[1]

• Seán Fleming, TD – Minister of State with special responsibility for International development and the diaspora; and
• Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, TD – Minister of State with special responsibility for European Affairs.

List of parliamentary secretaries

Department of External Affairs 1933–1943
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Patrick Little	1 March 1933	27 September 1939		7th EC8th EC1st2nd
Paddy Smith	27 September 1939	1 July 1943		2nd
Department of Foreign Affairs 1977–1978
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
David Andrews	5 July 1977	1 January 1978		15th

List of ministers of state

Department of Foreign Affairs 1978–2011
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
David Andrews	1 January 1978	11 December 1979			15th
Jim O'Keeffe	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Overseas development	17th^[2]
	16 December 1982	13 February 1986	19th^[3]
George Birmingham	13 February 1986	10 March 1987			European Affairs and Development Co-operation
Seán Calleary	12 March 1987	12 July 1989		Overseas Aid	20th^[4]
	19 July 1989	11 February 1992	21st^[5]
Brendan Daly	13 February 1992	12 January 1993			22nd^[6]
Tom Kitt	14 January 1993	15 December 1994		European Affairs and Overseas development assistance	23rd^[7]
Joan Burton	20 December 1994	26 June 1997		Overseas development assistance	24th^[8]
Gay Mitchell	20 December 1994	26 June 1997		European Affairs
Liz O'Donnell	1 July 1997	6 June 2002		Overseas development assistance and Human rights	25th^[9]
Dick Roche	6 June 2002	29 September 2004		European Affairs	26th^[10] ^[11]
Tom Kitt	19 June 2002	29 September 2004		Overseas development and Human rights
Conor Lenihan	5 October 2004	20 June 2007		Overseas development
Noel Treacy	29 September 2004	20 June 2007		European Affairs
Michael Kitt	20 June 2007	13 May 2008		Overseas development	27th^[12]
Dick Roche	14 June 2007	9 March 2011		European Affairs	27th28th
Peter Power	13 May 2008	9 March 2011		Overseas development	28th^[13]
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2011–2020
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Jan O'Sullivan	10 March 2011	20 December 2011		Trade and Development	29th^[14] ^[15]
Lucinda Creighton	10 March 2011	11 July 2013		European Affairs
Joe Costello	20 December 2011	15 July 2014		Trade and Development
Paschal Donohoe	12 July 2013	11 July 2014		European Affairs
Seán Sherlock	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Overseas development aid, Trade promotion and North–South co-operation
Jimmy Deenihan	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Diaspora
Dara Murphy	15 July 2014	20 June 2017		European Affairs	29th30th
Joe McHugh	19 May 2016	16 June 2017		Diaspora and Overseas development aid	30th^[16]
Ciarán Cannon	20 June 2017	27 June 2020		Diaspora and International development	31st^[17]
Helen McEntee	20 June 2017	27 June 2020		European Affairs
Department of Foreign Affairs 2020–present
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Colm Brophy	1 July 2020	17 December 2022		Overseas development aid and the Diaspora	32nd^[18]
Thomas Byrne	1 July 2020	17 December 2022		European Affairs
Peter Burke	21 December 2022	9 April 2024		European Affairs	33rd
Seán Fleming	21 December 2022	Incumbent		International development and the Diaspora	33rd^[19] 34th
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill	9 April 2024	Incumbent		European Affairs	34th

Notes and References

1. Web site: Government Ministers. Government of Ireland. 8 January 2021. 7 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200807154553/https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/9b5048-government-ministers/. live.
2. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (22nd Dáil) – Tuesday, 7 July 1981. 4 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028210304/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1981-07-07/14/. live.
3. Web site: Ministerial Assignments and Titles: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Thursday, 13 February 1986. 22 December 2020. Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028213856/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1986-02-13/30/. live.
4. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (25th Dáil) – Tuesday, 24 March 1987. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 8 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210108063622/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1987-03-24/20/. live.
5. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (26th Dáil) – Thursday, 20 July 1989. 22 December 2020. Oireachtas. 13 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200913125919/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1989-07-20/2/. live.
6. Web site: Members of Government and Ministers of State: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (26th Dáil) – Thursday, 13 February 1992. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 16 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191116163602/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1992-02-13/3/. live.
7. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Wednesday, 10 February 1993. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 9 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191109133603/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1993-02-10/2/. live.
8. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Tuesday, 25 January 1995. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 13 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200913162817/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1995-01-24/18/. live.
9. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (28th Dáil) – Wednesday, 9 July 1997. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028213422/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1997-07-09/17/. live.
10. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (29th Dáil) – Tuesday, 18 June 2002. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028211333/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2002-06-18/12/. live.
11. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State: Statements – Dáil Éireann (29th Dáil) – Thursday, 30 September 2004. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 12 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210112213241/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2004-09-30/3/. live.
12. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil) – Tuesday, 26 June 2007. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 18 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201218114717/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2007-06-26/16/. live.
13. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil) – Tuesday, 13 May 2008. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028205059/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2008-05-13/18/. live.
14. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (31st Dáil) – Tuesday, 15 March 2011. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 24 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201124100935/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2011-03-15/4/. live.
15. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (31st Dáil) – Tuesday, 15 July 2014. Oireachtas. 19 December 2020. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028205249/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2014-07-15/16/. live.
16. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) – Thursday, 19 May 2016. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 24 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201224140917/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2016-05-19/24/. live.
17. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) – Tuesday, 20 June 2017. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 23 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201223200916/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2017-06-20/3/. live.
18. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil) – Tuesday, 7 July 2020. 19 December 2020. Oireachtas. 9 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200709181211/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2020-07-07/3/. live.
19. Web site: Carroll MacNeill and O'Donnell promoted to junior ministers. RTÉ News. 21 December 2022. 21 December 2022.