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Irish Government

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Image:Gbuildings.jpg Irish_Government Buildings thumb|[[Irish Government Buildings|Government Buildings, Dublin.html" title="Meaning of Government Buildings.html" title="Meaning of thumb|[[Irish Government Buildings|Government Buildings">thumb|[[Irish Government Buildings|Government Buildings, Dublin">Government Buildings.html" title="Meaning of thumb|[[Irish Government Buildings|Government Buildings">thumb|[[Irish Government Buildings|Government Buildings, Dublin The '''Government''' (Irish language Irish: ''Rialtas'') is the cabinet that exercises executive (government) executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach, and a deputy prime minister called the Tánaiste. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President of Ireland President after being designated by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament). The President then appoints the remaining ''Ministers of the Government'' after they have been chosen by the Taoiseach and approved by the Dáil. The Government must enjoy the confidence of the Dáil if it is to remain in office. {{PoliticsRofI}}

Overview
The Constitution of Ireland is unusual among Republicanism republican constitutions in that it does not make the President at least the ''nominal'' chief executive officer, but rather explicitly vests executive authority in the Government. The Government is therefore not referred to as ''His'' or ''Her Excellency's Government''. Under the constitution the Government must consist of between seven and fifteen members. Every member of the Government must be a member of the Oireachtas (parliament), and no more than two members may be chosen from the Seanad Éireann Senate; the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister of Finance must all be members of the Dáil. The Government is advised by the Attorney-General of Ireland Attorney-General who is not formally a member of the Government but participates in its meetings. Similarly the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach Chief Whip may also attend meetings of the Government but is not a part of it. Members of the Government are also assisted by Minister of State (Ireland) Ministers of State who are nonetheless not part of the Government and do not take part in its meetings. In the event that the Taoiseach ceases "to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann" there must either be a dissolution of parliament dissolution of the Dáil or the Taoiseach must resign{{fn|1}}. The President may, however, refuse to grant a dissolution to a Taoiseach who does not enjoy the support of the Dáil, and thus force their resignation. When the Taoiseach resigns, the entire Government is deemed to have vacated office collectively. The Taoiseach can also direct the President to dismiss or accept the resignation of individual ministers. In any circumstance in which the Taoiseach or Government have been removed from office, however, they continue to exercise their powers until a successor, or successors, have been appointed. The executive authority of the Government is subject to certain limitations. In particular: *The state may not Declaration of war declare war, or participate in a war, without the consent of Dáil Éireann. *Treaty Treaties must be ratified by the Dáil. *The Government must act in accordance with the constitution. If the Government fails to fulfill its constitutional duties, it may be ordered to do so by a court of law, by writ of mandamus. Ministers who fail to comply may, ultimately, be found to be in contempt of court, and even imprisoned.

Origins
The Government was created by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland; the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924 and amendments, contains the detailed provisions regarding status and functions of the Government in general{{fn.html">Executive Council of the Irish Free State Executive Council of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State. One notable aspect of the Irish system is that ministers are 'corporations ''sole''' - the department does not exist as a legal entity separate to the minister. This leads to the oft quoted phrase in correspondence with Government departments - "the Minister has directed me to write" - on many letters or documents that the minister in question may in fact have never seen. A number of Government minister positions no longer exist, as distinct from renaming which occurs frequently, their powers are transferred to other ministers - these "defunct" ministers are: Minister for Communications (Ireland) Communications, Minister for Labour (Ireland) Labour, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Ireland) Posts & Telegraphs, Minister for the Public Service (Ireland) Public Service and Minister for Supplies (Ireland) Supplies. The office of Minister without portfolio has also being held several times, but not since 1977. Since the 1990s, all Governments have consisted of coalitions of two or more parties, although coalitions existed intermittently before this. Nowadays, the position of Tánaiste is always held by the leader of the smaller of the two largest coalition government partners.

The 26th Government (2002-present)
{{main|Government of the 29th Dáil}} The current Cabinet (as of February 3, 2006) consists of: {| border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0 0 0 1em; background: #ffffff; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; " |- style="text-align: center; background: #efefef; border-bottom: 2px solid gray;" !Position !Minister !Party |- | '''Taoiseach''' |Bertie Ahern |Fianna Fáil |- | '''Tánaiste
Minister for Health and Children (Ireland) Minister for Health & Children''' |Mary Harney |Progressive Democrats |- | '''Minister for Finance (Ireland) Minister for Finance''' |Brian Cowen |Fianna Fáil |- | '''Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland) Minister for Foreign Affairs''' |Dermot Ahern |Fianna Fáil |- | '''Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Ireland) Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform''' |Michael McDowell |Progressive Democrats |- |'''Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ireland) Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment''' |Micheál Martin |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Agriculture and Food (Ireland) Minister for Agriculture & Food''' |Mary Coughlan |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (Ireland) Minister for Communications, Marine & Natural Resources''' |Noel Dempsey |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Defence (Ireland) Minister for Defence''' |Willie O'Dea |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Education and Science (Ireland) Minister for Education & Science''' |Mary Hanafin |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Ireland) Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government''' |Dick Roche |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Transport (Ireland) Minister for Transport''' |Martin Cullen |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Ireland) Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism''' |John O'Donoghue (politician) John O'Donoghue |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister for Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs''' |Éamon Ó Cuív |Fianna Fáil |- |'''Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Ireland) Minister for Social & Family Affairs''' |Séamus Brennan |Fianna Fáil |}

Public sector
{{seealso|State-sponsored bodies of the Republic of Ireland}} The Government, through the civil and public services and semi-state bodies, is a significant employer in the state; these three sectors are often called the ''public sector''. Management of these various bodies vary, for instance in the civil service their will be clearly defined routes and patterns whilst among public services a sponsoring minister or the Minister for Finance (Ireland) Minister for Finance may appoint a board or commission. Commercial activities, where the state involves itself, are typically through the state-sponsored bodies. The most recent report on public sector employment{{fn|2}}, shows that at June 2005 the numbers employed in the public service stood at 350,100; of these by sector they were 38,700 (civil service), 254,100 (public service) and 57,300 (semi-state). The total workforce of the state was 1,857,400 that year, thus the public sector represents approximately 20% of the total workforce.

Civil Service
{{main|Civil service of the Republic of Ireland}} The civil service of the Republic of Ireland consists of two broad components, the ''Civil Service of the Government'' and the ''Civil Service of the State''. Whilst these two components are largely theoretical they do have some fundamental operational differences. The civil service is expected to maintain political impartiality in its work, and some parts of it are entirely independent of Government decision making.

Public Service
{{main|Public service of the Republic of Ireland}} The public service is a relatively broad term and is not clearly defined and sometimes is taken to include the civil service. The public service proper consists of Government agencies and bodies which provide services on behalf of the Government but are not the core civil service. For instance Local government in the Republic of Ireland local authorities, Vocational Education Committees and Garda Siochána are considered to be public services.

List of Governments
''See also: Irish cabinets since 1919''

'''Dáil'''	'''Election/formed'''	'''Government'''	'''Taoiseach'''	'''Tánaiste'''	'''Parties'''
9th	Irish general election, 1937 1937 election	Government of the 9th Dáil 1st Government	Eamon de Valera	Seán T. O'Kelly	Fianna Fáil
10th	Irish general election, 1938 1938 election	Government of the 10th Dáil 2nd Government	"	"	Fianna Fáil
11th	Irish general election, 1943 1943 election	Government of the 11th Dáil 3nd Government	"	"	Fianna Fáil
12th	Irish general election, 1944 1944 election	Government of the 12th Dáil 4th Government	"	"	Fianna Fáil
13th	Irish general election, 1948 1948 election	Government of the 13th Dáil 5th Government	John A. Costello	William Norton	Fine Gael, Irish Labour Party Labour, Clann na Poblachta, Clann na Talmhan, National Labour Party (Ireland) National Labour
14th	Irish general election, 1951 1951 election	Government of the 14th Dáil 6th Government	Eamon de Valera	Sean Lemass	Fianna Fáil
15th	Irish general election, 1954 1954 election	Government of the 15th Dáil 7th Government	John A. Costello	William Norton	Fine Gael, Irish Labour Party Labour, Clann na Talmhan
16th	Irish general election, 1957 1957 election	Government of the 16th Dáil 8th Government	Eamon de Valera	Sean Lemass	Fianna Fáil
	1959	Government of the 16th Dáil 9th Government	Sean Lemass	Seán MacEntee	Fianna Fáil
17th	Irish general election, 1961 1961 election	Government of the 17th Dáil 10th Government	"	"	Fianna Fáil
18th	Irish general election, 1965 1965 election	Government of the 18th Dáil 11th Government	"	Frank Aiken	Fianna Fáil
	1966	Government of the 18th Dáil 12th Government	Jack Lynch	"	Fianna Fáil
19th	Irish general election, 1969 1969 election	Government of the 19th Dáil 13th Government	"	Erskine Hamilton Childers Erskine H. Childers	Fianna Fáil
20th	Irish general election, 1973 1973 election	Government of the 20th Dáil 14th Government	Liam Cosgrave	Brendan Corish	Fine Gael, Irish Labour Party Labour
21st	Irish general election, 1977 1977 election	Government of the 21st Dáil 15th Government	Jack Lynch	George Colley	Fianna Fáil
	1979	Government of the 21st Dáil 16th Government	Charles J. Haughey	"	Fianna Fáil
22nd	Irish general election, 1981 1981 election	Government of the 22nd Dáil 18th Government	Garret FitzGerald	Michael O'Leary (politician) Michael O'Leary	Fine Gael, Irish Labour Party Labour
23rd	Irish general election, 1982 (February) 1982 (Feb) election	Government of the 23rd Dáil 18th Government	Charles J. Haughey	Ray MacSharry	Fianna Fáil
24th	Irish general election, 1982 (November) 1982 (Nov) election	Government of the 24th Dáil 19th Government	Garret FitzGerald	Dick Spring	Fine Gael, Irish Labour Party Labour
25th	Irish general election, 1987 1987 election	Government of the 25th Dáil 20th Government	Charles J. Haughey	Brian Lenihan	Fianna Fáil
25th	Irish general election, 1989 1989 election	Government of the 26th Dáil 21st Government	"	"	Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats
26th	1992	Government of the 26th Dáil 22nd Government	Albert Reynolds	John P. Wilson	Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats
27th	Irish general election, 1992 1992 election	Government of the 27th Dáil 23rd Government	"	Dick Spring	Fianna Fáil, Irish Labour Party Labour
	1994 ''Rainbow Coalition''	Government of the 27th Dáil 24th Government	John Bruton	"	Fine Gael, Irish Labour Party Labour, Democratic Left (Ireland) Democratic Left
28th	Irish general election, 1997 1997 election	Government of the 28th Dáil 25th Government	Bertie Ahern	Mary Harney	Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats
29th	Irish general election, 2002 2002 election	Government of the 29th Dáil 26th Government	"	"	Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats

Footnotes
*{{fnb|1}} Constitution of Ireland, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Ireland#THE_GOVERNMENT Article 28, Section 10]. *{{fnb|2}} Central Statistics Office (Ireland) Central Statistics Office [http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/earnings/current/psempearn.pdf Public Sector Employment and Earnings (June 2005)] *{{fnb|3}} Irish Statute Book [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1924_16.html Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924]

See also
*Politics of the Republic of Ireland

External link

- Official website - Irish Government {{GovernmentofIreland}} Category:Politics of the Republic of Ireland Category:National cabinets Category:Government of Ireland see Irish Government Members of the current Irish Government. Category:Political office-holders in the Republic of Ireland Category:Government ministers by country Ireland, Republic of category:Government of the Republic of Ireland Government category:Executive branches Ireland, Republic of

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