Minister for Health (Ireland)

Minister for Health
Incumbent James Reilly since 9 March 2011
Appointer	President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder	James Ryan
Formation	22 January 1947
Website	dohc.ie

The Minister for Health (Irish: An tAire Sláinte) is the senior minister at the Department of Health in the Government of Ireland and is responsible for health care in the Republic of Ireland and related services.

The current Minister for Health is James Reilly, TD. He is assisted by:

• Róisín Shortall, TD – Minister of State for Primary Care
• Kathleen Lynch, TD – Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health

History

Health care formed part of the portfolio of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health until 22 January 1947. On that date the new position of Minister for Health was created, with complete control over all policy regarding health care provision in Ireland. In later years, the health portfolio was occasionally coupled with that for social welfare portfolio, in which case the incumbent was known as the Minister for Health and Social Welfare.

In recent years, and especially since the tenure of Michael Noonan in 1994–1997, being appointed as minister has become somewhat of a "poisoned chalice" in government circles and a portfolio to be avoided by aspiring politicians, during his tenure Brian Cowen famously referred to the Department of Health as Angola due the fact that there were landmines everywhere.^[1] A number of scandals, mostly due to medical negligence, have meant that the minister immediately becomes identified with the scandal. For instance the Hepatitis C scandal, the withholding of baby organs without parental consent or knowledge, the Michael Neary saga in Drogheda and other high profile medical scandals have dogged the minister and department. Additionally the minister has to deal with logistic issues not seen in other departments such as strikes, shortages and queues which are all too familiar in clinics and hospitals around the country.

Overview

The Minister's duties include the creation and assessment of policy for the health services. The main policy sections of the Department, together with their responsibilities, are:

Child Care

• Child care legislation
• National Children's Office

Continuing Care

• Services for homeless adults
• Services for people with disabilities
• Services for the elderly and palliative care

Finance

• Health insurance
• Hospital planning
• Public-Private Partnerships

Personnel Management and Development

• Nursing policy
• Personnel management and development

Primary Care

• Community health (child health, dental services, AIDS, reproductive health)
• General medical services

Secondary Care

• Blood policy
• Hospital services

Strategic Policy and Corporate Services

• Corporate Services
• Health promotion
• Health Strategy Legislation

List of office-holders

  Denotes acting Minister

Minister for Local Government and Public Health 1924–1947
No.	Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	Ernest Blythe	2 June 1924	23 June 1927		Cumann na nGaedheal
4.	Richard Mulcahy	23 June 1927	9 March 1932		Cumann na nGaedheal
5.	Seán T. O'Kelly	9 March 1932	8 September 1939		Fianna Fáil
6.	P. J. Ruttledge	8 September 1939	14 August 1941		Fianna Fáil
7.	Éamon de Valera (acting)	15 August 1941	18 August 1941		Fianna Fáil
8.	Seán MacEntee	18 August 1941	22 January 1947		Fianna Fáil
Minister for Health 1947–1997
No.	Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
1.	James Ryan (1st time)	22 January 1947	18 February 1948		Fianna Fáil
2.	Noël Browne	18 February 1948	11 April 1951		Clann na Poblachta
3.	John A. Costello (acting)	12 April 1951	13 June 1951		Fine Gael
	*James Ryan (2nd time)	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fianna Fáil
4.	Tom O'Higgins	2 June 1954	20 March 1957		Fine Gael
5.	*Seán MacEntee	20 March 1957	21 April 1965		Fianna Fáil
6.	Donogh O'Malley	21 April 1965	13 July 1966		Fianna Fáil
7.	Seán Flanagan	13 July 1966	2 July 1969		Fianna Fáil
8.	Erskine H. Childers	2 July 1969	14 March 1973		Fianna Fáil
9.	*Brendan Corish	14 March 1973	5 July 1977		Labour Party
10.	*Charles Haughey	5 July 1977	11 December 1979		Fianna Fáil
11.	*Michael Woods (1st time)	12 December 1979	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil
12.	*Eileen Desmond	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Labour Party
	*Michael Woods (2nd time)	9 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil
13.	*Barry Desmond	14 December 1982	20 January 1987		Labour Party
14.	John Boland	20 January 1987	10 March 1987		Fine Gael
15.	Rory O'Hanlon	10 March 1987	14 November 1991		Fianna Fáil
16.	Mary O'Rourke	14 November 1991	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil
17.	John O'Connell	11 February 1992	12 January 1993		Fianna Fáil
18.	Brendan Howlin	12 January 1993	17 November 1994		Labour Party
	*Michael Woods (3rd time)	17 November 1994	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil
19.	Michael Noonan	15 December 1994	26 June 1997		Fine Gael
20.	Brian Cowen	26 June 1997	12 July 1997		Fianna Fáil
Minister for Health and Children 1997–2011
No.	Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
	Brian Cowen	12 July 1997	27 January 2000		Fianna Fáil
21.	Micheál Martin	27 January 2000	29 September 2004		Fianna Fáil
22.	Mary Harney	29 September 2004	19 January 2011		PD / Ind
23.	Mary Coughlan	20 January 2011	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil
Minister for Health 2011–present
No.	Name	Entered Office	Left Office	Party
24.	James Reilly	9 March 2011	Incumbent		Fine Gael

The asterisk (*) indicates ministers who held the Health and Social Welfare portfolios simultaneously.

References

1. ^ Fergal Bowers (1 January 2003). "Heath – review of the year". IrishHealth.com. http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=4514. Retrieved 15 May 2008. 

External links

• Department of Health
• Health Information and Quality Authority