irish minister for communications, marine and natural resources

Irish Minister For Communications, Marine And Natural Resources

The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is the senior minister at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (An Roinn Cumarside, Mara agus Achmhainn Ndrtha) in the Irish Government. The current Minister is Noel Dempsey, TD; he is assisted by Pat the Cope Gallagher, TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Marine.

Overview

The Department has responsibilities in the areas of:

Communications

Communications development - promotion of the provision and development of competitive high quality and world class services in the communications, electronic and mobile commerce sectors.
Business and technology - focusing on new business and technology applications and the development of policies, initiatives and legislation as appropriate.
Regulatory affairs - the development of effective policies for the regulation of the electronic communications sector and management of the radio frequency spectrum.
Postal services - the development of an effective policy for the Irish postal sector based on open market principles.

Marine

A wide range of roles and functions in the areas of maritime transport, public safety, environmental protection and coastal zone.

Natural Resources

The Petroleum Affairs Division aims to:

maximise the benefits to the State from exploration for and production of indigenous oil and gas resources;
ensure that activities are conducted safely and with due regard to their impact on the environment and other land/sea users.

The Exploration and Mining Division of the Department is charged with:

applying the Minerals Development Act to minerals exploration and development;
encouraging the early identification and responsible development by private investors of the Nation's minerals deposits in accordance with best international practice;
enhancing the attractiveness of Ireland for international and national minerals investment by active promotional measures.

Minister for Fisheries 1921-1930

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1.	John Etchingham	August 26, 1921	January 9, 1922	Sinn Fin
2.	Finian Lynch	December 14, 1922	April 3, 1930	Cumann na nGaedhael

Minister for Lands & Fisheries 1930-1937

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Finian Lynch	April 3, 1930	March 9, 1932	Cumann na nGaedhael
3.	P.J. Ruttledge	March 9, 1932	February 8, 1933	Fianna Fil
4.	Joseph Connolly	February 8, 1933	May 29, 1936	Fianna Fil
5.	Frank Aiken	June 3, 1936	November 11, 1936	Fianna Fil
6.	Gerald Boland	November 11, 1936	July 21, 1937	Fianna Fil

Minister for Lands 1937-1977

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Gerald Boland	July 21, 1937	September 8, 1939	Fianna Fil
7.	Toms Deirg (1st time)	September 8, 1939	July 2, 1943	Fianna Fil
8.	Sen Moylon	July 2, 1943	February 18, 1948	Fianna Fil
9.	Joseph Blowick (1st time)	February 18, 1948	March 7, 1951	Clann na Talmhan
	Toms Deirg (2nd time)	June 13, 1951	June 2, 1954	Fianna Fil
	Joseph Blowick (2nd time)	June 2, 1954	March 20, 1957	Clann na Talmhan
10.	Erskine Childers	March 20, 1957	July 23, 1959	Fianna Fil
11.	Michel Morin	July 23, 1959	March 26, 1968	Fianna Fil
12.	Pdraig Faulkner	March 26, 1968	July 2, 1969	Fianna Fil
13.	Sen Flanagan	July 2, 1969	March 14, 1973	Fianna Fil
14.	Tom Fitzpatrick (1st time)	March 14, 1973	December 2, 1976	Fine Gael
15.	Paddy Donegan	December 2, 1976	February 9, 1977	Fine Gael

Minister for Fisheries 1977-1978

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Paddy Donegan	February 9, 1977	July 5, 1977	Fine Gael
16.	Brian Lenihan	July 5, 1977	July 15, 1978	Fianna Fil

Minister for Fisheries & Forestry 1978-1986

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Brian Lenihan	July 15, 1978	December 11, 1979	Fianna Fil
17.	Paddy Power	December 12, 1979	June 30, 1981	Fianna Fil
	Tom Fitzpatrick (2nd time)	June 30, 1981	March 9, 1982	Fine Gael
18.	Brendan Daly (1st time)	March 9, 1982	December 14, 1982	Fianna Fil
19.	Paddy O'Toole (1st time)	December 14, 1982	February 14, 1986	Fine Gael
20.	Liam Kavanagh	February 14, 1986	February 19, 1986	labour

Minister for Tourism, Fisheries & Forestry 1986-1987

Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
Liam Kavanagh	February 19, 1986	January 20, 1987	Labour
Paddy O'Toole (2nd time)	January 20, 1987	March 10, 1987	Fine Gael
Brendan Daly (2nd time)	March 10, 1987	March 20, 1987	Fianna Fil

Minister for Marine 1987-1997

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
	Brendan Daly (2nd time)	March 20, 1987	July 12, 1989	Fianna Fil
21.	John P. Wilson	July 12, 1989	February 11, 1992	Fianna Fil
22.	Michael Woods (1st time)	February 11, 1992	January 12, 1993	Fianna Fil
23.	David Andrews ¹	January 12, 1993	December 15, 1994	Fianna Fil
24.	Hugh Coveney ¹	December 15, 1994	May 23, 1995	Fine Gael
25.	Sen Barret ¹	May 23, 1995	June 26, 1997	Fine Gael
	Michael Woods (2nd time)	June 26, 1997	July 12, 1997	Fianna Fil