The minister for education and youth () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Education and Youth. The current minister for education and youth is Hildegarde Naughton, TD.
She is assisted by one minister of state: Michael Moynihan, TD – Minister of State for special education and inclusion
Functions The minister engages in a wide range of activities relating to education in 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.
History In 1919, the Gaelic League passed a motion calling for the Dáil to appoint a minister for Irish to promote the use of the Irish language throughout the country, which was read into the record of the Dáil by the Ceann Comhairle. On 29 June 1920, John J. O'Kelly, known in Irish as Seán Ua Ceallaigh, and also by the pen name Sceilg, was appointed as Minister for Irish.
After the Second Dáil met in August 1921, the President Éamon de Valera proposed that this position be altered to that of Minister for Education, saying "It was obvious the Minister in charge should be capable of dealing with the part referring to Irish but he thought the Department should have a wider meaning than at present". This was accepted by the Dáil. The following day, when de Valera proposed his new ministry, O'Kelly was proposed as Minister for Education, continuing in his previous position with an expanded function.
It was given a statutory basis in the Irish Free State as one of the positions in the Executive Council under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924.
List of office-holders
Minister for Irish 1920–1921NameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s)John J. O'Kelly29 June 192026 August 1921 2nd DMMinister for Education 1921–1997NameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s)John J. O'Kelly26 August 19219 January 1922 3rd DMMichael Hayes11 January 19229 September 1922 4th DMFionán Lynch1 April 192230 August 1922 1st PGEoin MacNeill30 August 192224 November 1925 2nd PG5th DM1st EC2nd ECJohn M. O'Sullivan28 January 19269 March 1932 3rd EC4th EC5th ECThomas Derrig(1st time)9 March 19328 September 1939 6th EC7th EC8th EC1st2ndSeán T. O'Kelly8 September 193927 September 1939 2nd Éamon de Valera 27 September 1939 18 June 1940 2ndThomas Derrig(2nd time)18 June 194018 February 1948 2nd3rd4thRichard Mulcahy(1st time)18 February 194813 June 1951 5thSeán Moylan13 June 19512 June 1954 6thRichard Mulcahy(2nd time)2 June 195420 March 1957 7thJack Lynch(1st time)20 March 195723 June 1959 8thPatrick Hillery23 June 195921 April 1965 9th10thGeorge Colley21 April 196513 July 1966 11thDonogh O'Malley13 July 196610 March 1968 11th12thJack Lynch 10 March 196826 March 1968 12thBrian Lenihan26 March 19682 July 1969 12thPádraig Faulkner2 July 196914 March 1973 13thRichard Burke14 March 19732 December 1976 14thPeter Barry2 December 19765 July 1977 14thJohn Wilson5 July 197730 June 1981 15th16thJohn Boland30 June 19819 March 1982 17thMartin O'Donoghue9 March 19826 October 1982 18thCharles Haughey 7 October 198227 October 1982 18thGerard Brady27 October 198214 December 1982 18thGemma Hussey14 December 198214 February 1986 19thPatrick Cooney14 February 198610 March 1987 19thMary O'Rourke10 March 198714 November 1991 20th21stNoel Davern14 November 199111 February 1992 21stSéamus Brennan11 February 199212 January 1993 22ndNiamh Bhreathnach(1st time)12 January 199317 November 1994 23rdMichael Smith18 November 199415 December 1994 23rdNiamh Bhreathnach(2nd time)15 December 199426 June 1997 24thMinister for Education and Science 1997–2010NameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s)Micheál Martin26 June 199727 January 2000 25thMichael Woods27 January 20006 June 2002 25thNoel Dempsey6 June 200229 September 2004 26thMary Hanafin29 September 20047 May 2008 26th27thBatt O'Keeffe7 May 200823 March 2010 27th28thMinister for Education and Skills 2010–2020NameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s)Mary Coughlan23 March 20109 March 2011 28thRuairi Quinn9 March 201111 July 2014 29thJan O'Sullivan11 July 20146 May 2016 29thRichard Bruton6 May 201616 October 2018 30th31stJoe McHugh16 October 201827 June 2020 31stMinister for Education 2020–2025NameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s)Norma Foley27 June 202023 January 2025 32nd33rd34thMinister for Education and Youth 2025–presentNameTerm of officePartyGovernment(s)Helen McEntee23 January 202518 November 2025 35thHildegarde Naughton 18 November 2025Incumbent Notes
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