Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications explained

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

There are currently two Ministers of State:

• James Lawless, TD, with special responsibility for Postal Policy.^[1]
• Ossian Smyth, TD, with special responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy.

List of parliamentary secretaries

Department of Lands and Fisheries 1927–1937
Name	Term of Office		Party		Government
Martin Roddy	21 September 1927	9 March 1932		3rd EC4th EC5th EC
Seán O'Grady	9 March 1932	29 December 1937		6th EC7th EC8th EC
Department of Lands 1937–1965
Name	Term of Office		Party		Government
Seán O'Grady	29 December 1937	9 February 1943		1st2nd
Eamon Kissane	9 February 1943	1 July 1943		2nd
Jack Lynch	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		6th
Brian Lenihan	11 October 1961	3 November 1964		10th
George Colley	21 November 1964	21 April 1965
Department of Fisheries 1977–1978
Name	Term of Office		Party		Government
Michael Pat Murphy	9 February 1977	5 July 1977		14th

List of ministers of state

Department of Fisheries and Forestry 1978–1986
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Tom McEllistrim	23 March 1982	14 December 1982		Forestry	18th
Michael D'Arcy	16 December 1982	18 February 1986		Fisheries and Forestry	19th
Department of Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry 1986–1987
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
John Donnellan	13 February 1986	10 March 1987		Fisheries	19th
Michael Moynihan	13 February 1986	10 March 1987		Tourism	19th
Michael Smith	10 March 1987	31 March 1987		Forestry	20th
Denis Lyons	10 March 1987	31 March 1987		Tourism	20th
Department of the Marine 1987–1997
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher	12 March 1987	12 July 1989		Marine matters	20th
Michael J. Noonan	19 July 1989	11 February 1992			21st
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher	13 February 1992	12 January 1993			22nd
Gerry O'Sullivan	14 January 1993	5 August 1994		Port Development, Safety and Inland Fisheries	23rd
Eamon Gilmore	20 December 1994	26 June 1997			24th
Department of the Marine and Natural Resources 1997–2002
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Hugh Byrne	8 July 1997	6 June 2002		Aquaculture and Forestry	25th
Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources 2002–2007
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
John Browne	19 June 2002	29 September 2004		Marine	26th
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher	29 September 2004	14 February 2006		Marine
John Browne	14 February 2006	14 June 2007		Marine
Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources 2007–2016
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Tony Killeen	20 June 2007	7 May 2008		Energy	27th^[2]
Seán Power	13 May 2008	22 April 2009		Information society and Natural resources	28th^[3]
Conor Lenihan	22 April 2009	9 March 2011		Natural resources
Fergus O'Dowd	10 March 2011	15 July 2014		New ERA	29th^[4]
Joe McHugh	15 July 2014	6 May 2016		Natural resources
Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment 2016–2020
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Seán Kyne	19 May 2016	14 June 2017		Natural resources	30th^[5]
	20 June 2017	16 October 2018	Natural resources and Digital development	31st^[6]
Seán Canney	16 October 2018	27 June 2020			Natural resources and Digital development
Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications 2020–present
Name	Term of office		Party		Responsibilities	Government
Hildegarde Naughton	27 June 2020	21 December 2022		Postal Policy and Eircodes	32nd
Ossian Smyth	1 July 2020	Incumbent		Communications and Circular Economy	32nd33rd^[7] 34th
Jack Chambers	21 December 2022	26 June 2024		Postal Policy
James Lawless	27 June 2024	Incumbent		Postal Policy	34th^[8]

Notes and References

1. 2020. si. 613. Oireachtas (Allowances) (Members and Holders of Parliamentary and Certain Ministerial Offices) Order 2020 . 8 December 2020. 29 December 2020.
2. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil) – Tuesday, 26 June 2007. 2 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 18 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201218114717/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2007-06-26/16/. live.
3. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (30th Dáil) – Thursday, 8 May 2008. 2 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 8 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210108013332/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2008-05-08/2/. live.
4. Web site: Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (31st Dáil) – Tuesday, 15 March 2011. 2 January 2021. Houses of the Oireachtas. 24 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201124100935/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2011-03-15/4/. live.
5. Web site: Appointment of Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) – Thursday, 19 May 2016. 2 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.
6. Web site: Appointment of Members of Government and Ministers of State – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) – Tuesday, 20 June 2017. 2 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.
7. Web site: Carroll MacNeill and O'Donnell promoted to junior ministers. RTÉ News. 21 December 2022. 21 December 2022.
8. Web site: Dara Calleary named as junior minister attending Cabinet. 27 June 2024. RTÉ News. Sandra. Hurley.