Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

The Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, officially styled as the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, is the Chief Whip of the Government of Ireland and is the most senior Minister of State in the Government of Ireland.
The role of the Whip is primarily that of the disciplinarian for all government parties, to ensure that all deputies, including ministers, attend for Dáil Business and follow the government line on all issues. The current Government Chief Whip is Jack Chambers, TD. The current Deputy Chief Whip is Brendan Griffin.

Overview

The main responsibilities of the Chief Whip include:

Attendance at Government meetings

The Chief Whip is a Minister of State who attends Government meetings, but does not have a vote. The title is sometimes given as "Minister of State, attending Government"
Other Ministers of state with the title "Minister of State, attending Government" are better known as Super Juniors.

Preparation of weekly brief for Taoiseach on legislation in preparation

Before each Dáil Session letters are sent to all Ministers to see what legislation or other business their Department expects to place before the Dáil. A weekly report on what stage Bills are at is given to the Taoiseach. During the Order of Business the Taoiseach is often queried about what legislation is promised. The weekly report shows what Bills are promised and gives an expected date of publication of the Bill.

Scheduling and monitoring of Dáil business

Once a Bill has been published and is placed on the Dáil Order Paper the staff in the Whip's Office keep in touch with Minister's Private Secretaries about when they wish to have their bill taken in the Dáil - sometimes the Whip's Office have to insist that a Bill is taken on a certain day, particularly when there is not much business for the House. Every Wednesday the Private Secretary prepares an agenda for each sitting day of the following week. This is discussed at a meeting of the Dáil Business Committee, which includes the Whips of the major parties, including the government chief whip; Fianna Fáil whip Michael Moynihan; Sinn Féin whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Labour Party whip Brendan Ryan.

Operation of the pairing system

A pair is an arrangement whereby a Government Deputy's name is linked with an Opposition Deputy in the event of a Vote arising. The practice is that under such an arrangement neither Deputy votes in any Division arising while the pairing agreement is valid. Because it is obviously so important for the Government to maintain its majority in the Dáil Chamber the pairing arrangements must be attended to very carefully. If a member cannot attend a notice explaining their absence must be sent to the Chief Whip as early as possible.

Leinster House accommodation for political parties

The Minister has to ensure that facilities and services in Leinster House are satisfactory for members and staff. The Opposition Whips liaise with him on matters such as office equipment which they may require.

Chairing Legislation Committee

The Chief Whip chairs the weekly meeting of the Legislation Committee. This Committee meets to discuss the progress of Bills in Departments and tries to ensure that there is always enough business for the Dáil and Seanad. The meeting is attended by the Attorney General, a Parliamentary Draftsman, Programme Manager to the Taoiseach, Programme Manager to the Tánaiste, Principal Officer in this Department and the Chief Whip.

History

The office was first created in 1922 as Parliamentary secretary to the President of the Executive Council. On 29 December 1937 under the terms of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the President was changed to that of Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach. Following the enactment of the "Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1977", the office of Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach was replaced with the office of Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach.

List of office-holders

Parliamentary Secretary to the President 1922–1937

Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach 1937–1977