Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

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 (called a schedule - see example) for each sitting day of the following week. This is discussed at a meeting of all Whips at their Wednesday night meeting. At the moment there are five whips: Government (Fine Gael) Chief whip, Regina Doherty; Labour Party whip Emmet Stagg; Sinn Féin whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Fianna Fáil whip Seán Ó Fearghaíl.

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 (who looks after legislation) 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 (Amendment) (No.2) 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.