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Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
	Incumbent; Peter Burke; since 9 April 2024
	Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Member of	Government of Ireland; Council of the European Union; Dáil Éireann;
Reports to	Taoiseach
Seat	Dublin, Ireland
Appointer	President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder	Ernest Blythe as Director of Trade and Commerce
Formation	17 June 1919
Website	Official website

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Irish: An tAire Fiontar, Trádála agus Fostaíochta) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

The current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is Peter Burke, TD.

He is assisted by two Ministers of State:

Dara Calleary, TD – Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation
Emer Higgins, TD – Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses^[1]

Overview

The Minister heads one of the most important economic departments in the Irish Government, responsible for the implementation of policy in five key areas – Enterprise, Innovation, Growth; Quality, Work and Learning; Making Markets and Regulation work better; Quality, Value and Continuous Improvement; and the European Union. A large element of the work of the Department arises from Ireland's membership of a number of international organisations, in particular the European Union and the World Trade Organization. The Department plays an active role in the development of EU and WTO policies, particularly to ensure that Ireland's interests are protected. The Department is organised into five divisions. They are:

Innovation and Investment Division
Enterprise and Trade Division
Commerce, Consumer and Competition Division
Employment Rights and Industrial Relations Division
Corporate Services

List of office-holders

Denotes acting Minister

Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)^[a]
Director of Trade and Commerce 1919–1921
Ernest Blythe	17 June 1919	26 August 1921		Sinn Féin	2nd DM
Secretary for Trade and Commerce 1921–1922
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Ernest Blythe	26 August 1921	11 January 1922		Sinn Féin	3rd DM
Minister for Trade 1922
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Ernest Blythe	11 January 1922	30 August 1922		Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)	4th DM • 1st PG
Minister for Industry and Commerce 1922–1977
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Joseph McGrath	30 August 1922	7 March 1924		Cumann na nGaedheal	2nd PG • 5th DM • 1st EC • 2nd EC
Patrick McGilligan	4 April 1924	9 March 1932		Cumann na nGaedheal	2nd EC • 3rd EC • 4th EC • 5th EC
Seán Lemass (1st time)	9 March 1932	16 September 1939		Fianna Fáil	6th EC • 7th EC • 8th EC • 1st • 2nd
Seán MacEntee	16 September 1939	18 August 1941		Fianna Fáil	2nd
Seán Lemass (2nd time)^[b]	18 August 1941	18 February 1948		Fianna Fáil	2nd • 3rd • 4th
Daniel Morrissey	18 February 1948	7 March 1951		Fine Gael	5th
Thomas F. O'Higgins	7 March 1951	13 June 1951		Fine Gael	5th
Seán Lemass (3rd time)	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fianna Fáil	6th
William Norton	2 June 1954	20 March 1957		Labour	7th
Seán Lemass (4th time)	20 March 1957	23 June 1959		Fianna Fáil	8th
Jack Lynch	23 June 1959	21 April 1965		Fianna Fáil	9th • 10th
Patrick Hillery	21 April 1965	13 July 1966		Fianna Fáil	11th
George Colley	13 July 1966	9 May 1970		Fianna Fáil	12th • 13th
Patrick Lalor	9 May 1970	14 March 1973		Fianna Fáil	13th
Justin Keating	14 March 1973	5 July 1977		Labour	14th
Desmond O'Malley (1st time)	5 July 1977	23 September 1977		Fianna Fáil	15th
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy 1977–1980
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Desmond O'Malley	23 September 1977	23 January 1980		Fianna Fáil	15th • 16th
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism 1980–1981
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Desmond O'Malley	23 January 1980	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil	16th
John Kelly	30 June 1981	21 August 1981		Fine Gael	17th
Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1981–1983
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
John Kelly	21 August 1981	9 March 1982		Fine Gael	17th
Desmond O'Malley (2nd time)	9 March 1982	6 October 1982		Fianna Fáil	18th
Paddy Power	7 October 1982	27 October 1982		Fianna Fáil	18th
Pádraig Flynn (1st time)	27 October 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	18th
Frank Cluskey	14 December 1982	8 December 1983		Labour	19th
Garret FitzGerald (acting)	8 December 1983	13 December 1983		Fine Gael	19th
John Bruton	13 December 1983	17 December 1983		Fine Gael	19th
Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism 1983–1986
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
John Bruton	17 December 1983	14 February 1986		Fine Gael	19th
Michael Noonan	14 February 1986	19 February 1986		Fine Gael	19th
Minister for Industry and Commerce 1986–1993
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Michael Noonan	19 February 1986	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	19th
Albert Reynolds	10 March 1987	24 November 1988		Fianna Fáil	20th
Ray Burke	24 November 1988	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	20th
Desmond O'Malley (3rd time)	12 July 1989	4 November 1992		Progressive Democrats	21st • 22nd
Pádraig Flynn (2nd time)	5 November 1992	4 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	22nd
Bertie Ahern	4 January 1993	12 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	22nd
Ruairi Quinn	12 January 1993	21 January 1993		Labour	23rd
Minister for Enterprise and Employment 1993–1997
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Ruairi Quinn	21 January 1993	17 November 1994		Labour	23rd
Charlie McCreevy	18 November 1994	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil	23rd
Richard Bruton (1st time)	15 December 1994	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	24th
Mary Harney	26 June 1997	12 July 1997		Progressive Democrats	25th
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment 1997–2010
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Mary Harney	12 July 1997	29 September 2004		Progressive Democrats	25th • 26th
Micheál Martin	29 September 2004	7 May 2008		Fianna Fáil	26th • 27th
Mary Coughlan	7 May 2008	23 March 2010		Fianna Fáil	28th
Batt O'Keeffe	23 March 2010	2 May 2010		Fianna Fáil	28th
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation 2010–2011
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Batt O'Keeffe	2 May 2010	20 January 2011		Fianna Fáil	28th
Mary Hanafin	20 January 2011	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	28th
Richard Bruton (2nd time)	9 March 2011	2 June 2011		Fine Gael	29th
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation 2011–2017
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Richard Bruton (2nd time)	2 June 2011	6 May 2016		Fine Gael	29th
Mary Mitchell O'Connor	6 May 2016	14 June 2017		Fine Gael	30th
Frances Fitzgerald	14 June 2017	2 September 2017		Fine Gael	31st
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation 2017–2020
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Frances Fitzgerald	2 September 2017	28 November 2017		Fine Gael	31st
Leo Varadkar (acting)	28 November 2017	30 November 2017		Fine Gael	31st
Heather Humphreys	30 November 2017	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	31st
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment 2020–present
Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
Leo Varadkar	27 June 2020	17 December 2022		Fine Gael	32nd
Simon Coveney	17 December 2022	9 April 2024		Fine Gael	33rd
Peter Burke	9 April 2024	Incumbent		Fine Gael	34th