Minister of State at the Department of Transport explained

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

The Department of Transport and Power was created in 1959; in 1984, as the Department of Transport, it was abolished and its functions were transferred to the Department of Communications. The Department of the Public Service was created in 1973; in 1987, its original functions were transferred to the Department of Finance, and it is the legal predecessor of the current Department of Transport. For this reason, the lists below show overlapping departments.

The current Minister of State is James Lawless, TD who was appointed in 2024.

List of parliamentary secretaries

Department of Transport and Power 1959–1977
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Patrick Lalor	16 November 1966	2 July 1969		12th^[1]
Department of Tourism and Transport 1977–1978
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Tom Fitzpatrick	5 July 1977	1 January 1978		15th^[2]
Department of the Public Service 1973–1978
Name	Term of office		Party		Government
Patrick J. Reynolds	17 December 1976	25 May 1977		14th^[3]

List of ministers of state

Department of Tourism and Transport 1978–1980
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Thomas J. Fitzpatrick	1 January 1978	11 December 1979			15th^[4]
Department of Transport 1980–1984
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Pádraig Flynn	25 March 1980	30 June 1981			16th^[5]
Terry Leyden	23 March 1982	14 December 1982			18th^[6]
John Donnellan	16 December 1982	15 December 1983			19th^[7]
Department of the Public Service 1978–1987
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Ray MacSharry	1 January 1978	11 December 1979			15th^[8]
Seán Calleary	12 December 1979	30 June 1981			16th^[9]
Jim O'Keeffe	13 February 1986	10 March 1987			19th^[10]
Department of Tourism and Transport 1987–1991
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Denis Lyons	31 March 1987	12 July 1989		Tourism	20th^[11]
	19 July 1989	7 February 1991	21st^[12] ^[13]
Frank Fahey	26 September 1989	7 February 1991
Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications 1991–1993
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Denis Lyons	7 February 1991	11 February 1992		Tourism	21st
Frank Fahey	7 February 1991	11 February 1992
Brendan Kenneally	13 February 1992	12 January 1993			22nd^[14]
Department of Transport, Energy and Communications 1993–1997
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Noel Treacy	14 January 1993	15 December 1994		Energy	23rd^[15]
Emmet Stagg	20 December 1994	26 June 1997			24th^[16] ^[17]
Avril Doyle	27 January 1995	26 June 1997		Consumers of Public Services
Department of Public Enterprise 1997–2002
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Joe Jacob	8 July 1997	6 June 2002		Energy	25th^[18]
Department of Transport 2002–2011
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Jim McDaid	18 June 2002	5 October 2004		Road Traffic and Road Haulage	26th^[19] ^[20] ^[21]
Ivor Callely	29 September 2004	8 December 2005		Traffic Management, Road Haulage and the Irish Aviation Authority
	14 February 2006	14 June 2007		Traffic Management, Road Haulage and the Irish Aviation Authority
Noel Ahern	13 May 2008	22 April 2009		Road Safety	28th^[22] ^[23]
Ciarán Cuffe	23 March 2010	23 January 2011		Sustainable Travel and Planning
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport 2011–2020
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Michael Ring	10 March 2011	6 May 2016		Tourism and Sport	29th
Alan Kelly	10 March 2011	11 July 2014		Public and Commuter Transport
Ann Phelan	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Rural Transport
Patrick O'Donovan	19 May 2016	14 June 2017		Tourism and Sport	30th^[24]
Brendan Griffin	20 June 2017	27 June 2020		Tourism and Sport	31st^[25]
Department of Transport 2020–present
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Hildegarde Naughton	27 June 2020	17 December 2022		International and Road Transport and Logistics	32nd^[26]
Jack Chambers	21 December 2022	26 June 2024			33rd^[27] 34th
James Lawless	27 June 2024	Incumbent			34th^[28]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries – Dáil Éireann (18th Dáil) – Thursday, 17 November 1966. Houses of the Oireachtas. 7 January 2021. 8 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210108033932/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1966-11-17/3/. live.
2. Web site: Ceapachain mar Airí agus Rúnaí Parlaiminte – Dáil Éireann (21st Dáil) – Wednesday, 6 July 1977. Houses of the Oireachtas. 7 January 2021. Irish. 18 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201218114708/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1977-07-06/8/. live.
3. Web site: Appointment of Minister and Parliamentary Secretary – Dáil Éireann (20th Dáil) – Tuesday, 25 January 1977. 8 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 8 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210108085808/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1977-01-25/35/. live.
4. Web site: Adjournment of Dáil: Motion (Resumed) – Dáil Éireann (21st Dáil) – Wednesday, 14 December 1977. Houses of the Oireachtas. 10 January 2021. 8 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210108084332/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1977-12-14/11/. live.
5. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (21st Dáil) – Thursday, 27 March 1980. 23 November 2019. Houses of the Oireachtas. 8 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210108131206/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1980-03-27/3/. live.
6. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Minister of State – Dáil Éireann (23rd Dáil) – Tuesday, 23 March 1982. 10 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028205422/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1982-03-23/2/. live.
7. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Thursday, 16 December 1982. 10 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 5 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191105155516/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1982-12-16/8/. live.
8. Web site: Public Service (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1978. Irish Statute Book. 18 April 1978. 10 January 2021. 30 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201030151758/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1978/si/117/made/en/print. live.
9. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (21st Dáil) – Thursday, 13 December 1979. 23 November 2019. Houses of the Oireachtas. 12 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210112002926/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1979-12-13/24/. live.
10. Web site: Ministerial Assignments and Titles: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (24th Dáil) – Thursday, 13 February 1986. 10 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028213856/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1986-02-13/30/. live.
11. Web site: Transfer of Ministerial Functions: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (25th Dáil) – Tuesday, 1 April 1987. 10 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 12 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114043/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1987-04-01/3/. live.
12. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (26th Dáil) – Thursday, 20 July 1989. 15 July 2020. Houses of the Oireachtas. 13 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200913125919/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1989-07-20/2/. live.
13. Web site: Twenty-Sixth Dáil. 10 January 2021. 3 December 2018. Government of Ireland. 4 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210104212040/https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1d15ab-twenty-sixth-dail/. live.
14. Web site: Members of Government and Ministers of State: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (26th Dáil) – Thursday, 13 February 1992. 10 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 16 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191116163602/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1992-02-13/3/. live.
15. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Wednesday, 10 February 1993. 18 January 2020. Houses of the Oireachtas. 9 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191109133603/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1993-02-10/2/. live.
16. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Tuesday, 25 January 1995. 13 January 2020. Houses of the Oireachtas. 13 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200913162817/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1995-01-24/18/. live.
17. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State. Houses of the Oireachtas. 1 February 1995. 24 October 2020. 27 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201027141119/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1995-02-01/3/. live.
18. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (28th Dáil) – Wednesday, 9 July 1997. 12 January 2020. Houses of the Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028213422/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1997-07-09/17/. live.
19. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (29th Dáil) – Tuesday, 18 June 2002. 11 January 2020. Houses of the Oireachtas. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028211333/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2002-06-18/12/. live.
20. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State: Statements – Dáil Éireann (29th Dáil) – Thursday, 30 September 2004. 2 November 2019. Houses of the Oireachtas. 12 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210112213241/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2004-09-30/3/. live.
21. Appointment of Ministers of State . Iris Oifigiúil . 17 February 2006 . 2006 . 14 . 171.
22. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil) – Tuesday, 13 May 2008. Houses of the Oireachtas. 7 January 2021. 28 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028205059/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2008-05-13/18/. live.
23. Web site: Ministerial Appointments: Announcement by Taoiseach – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil) – Wednesday, 23 March 2010. 10 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 18 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201218114732/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2010-03-24/3/. live.
24. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) – Thursday, 19 May 2016. 7 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 24 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201224140917/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2016-05-19/24/. live.
25. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) – Tuesday, 20 June 2017. 7 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 23 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201223200916/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2017-06-20/3/. live.
26. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil) – Tuesday, 7 July 2020. 7 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 9 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200709181211/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2020-07-07/3/. live.
27. Web site: Minister of State appointments. Department of the Taoiseach. gov.ie. 21 December 2022. 21 December 2022.
28. Web site: Dara Calleary named as junior minister attending Cabinet. 27 June 2024. RTÉ News. Sandra. Hurley.