Minister for Finance (Ireland)

The Minister for Finance holds the second most important ministerial position in the Irish Cabinet after that of the Taoiseach. The minister is in charge of the Department of Finance responsible for all financial matters in Ireland. It is one of three positions in the government which the Constitution requires to be held by a member of Dáil Éireann, the other two being Taoiseach and Tánaiste. Many Ministers who have held the Finance portfolio have gone on to become Taoiseach, including Jack Lynch, Charles Haughey, Albert Reynolds, John Bruton, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen.

The department and minister are occasionally called the Irish Exchequer (or simply the Exchequer), a term previously used under the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland.

Budget

One of the most important aspects of the Minister's work is the creation of the annual Budget which is announced to the Dáil in a speech, which must be delivered before 15 October due to the Two-Pack agreement. In the budget the Minister details the Government's spending programme for the coming year. The budget consists of:

• a Financial Statement to the Dáil,
• Budgetary Measures (a list of budgetary changes detailing the cost/yield of same),
• Budget statistics, and
• financial resolutions.

• National Lottery
• Office of Public Works
• Revenue Commissioners

• Department of Finance