The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Irish: An Roinn Talmhaíochta, Bia agus Mara) is a department of the Government of Ireland. According to the department, its mission is to "lead the sustainable development of a competitive, consumer focused agri-food sector and to contribute to a vibrant rural economy and society".[1] It is led by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Departmental team
The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are in Agriculture House, Kildare Street, Dublin. The departmental team consists of the following:[2]
Monitoring and direction of state bodies engaged in the following areas:
Research training and advice.
Market development and promotion.
Industry regulation and development.
Commercial activities.
Direct provision of support services to agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry.
In 2017, Joe Healy, the Irish Farmers' Association president, expressed the view that since the UK is Ireland's main trading partner, Brexit could have a "frightening impact" on Ireland's agri-food sector. The UK was the market for 50 per cent, or 270,000 tonnes, of Irish beef exports and if the World Trade Organization (WTO) tariff rates were implemented they would "virtually wipe out" agri-food trade to Britain.[5]
History
The Department of Agriculture was created as a department of the Ministry of Dáil Éireann at one of the first meetings of Dáil Éireann in 1919 with Robert Barton as the first Minister for Agriculture, Horace Plunkett as the department's first vice-president, and T. P. Gill as its first Secretary. In 1899, Plunkett had established the Department's forerunner, called the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction (DATI). It was given a statutory basis by the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924. This act provided it with:
the administration and business generally of public services in connection with agriculture and lands, including the fixing of rents and tenure of lands, acquisition by occupying tenants of full ownership by means of public funds, enlargement and other economic improvement of holdings of land, purchase of land for distribution by way of re-sale, relief of rural congestion and like uneconomic conditions, promotion of agriculture by means of educational grants, and of lectures on special subjects, agricultural statistics, forestry, veterinary services, survey and mapping of land, and all powers, duties and functions connected with the same, and shall include in particular the business, powers, duties and functions of the branches and officers of the public services specified in the Fifth Part of the Schedule to this Act, and of which Department the head shall be, and shall be styled, an t-Aire Tailte agus Talmhaíochta or (in English) the Minister for Lands and Agriculture.[6]
Alteration of name and transfer of functions
Over the years its name and functions have changed several times.
Date
Change
2 June 1924
Establishment of the Department of Lands and Agriculture[7]
^Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2021 (S.I. No. 40 of 2021). Signed on 2 February 2021. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 15 February 2021.
^Fisheries (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1957 (S.I. No. 67 of 1957). Signed on 2 April 1957. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 August 2020.
^Fisheries (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1965 (S.I. No. 83 of 1965). Signed on 3 May 1965. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Lands (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1977 (S.I. No. 28 of 1977). Signed on 8 February 1977. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 17 January 2021.
^Fisheries (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1977 (S.I. No. 30 of 1977). Signed on 8 February 1977. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Fisheries (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1977 (S.I. No. 31 of 1977). Signed on 8 February 1977. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Food Standards (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1987 (S.I. No. 129 of 1987). Signed on 5 May 1987. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Energy (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1993 (S.I. No. 10 of 1993). Signed on 10 January 1993. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Agriculture and Food (Alteration of name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1993 (S.I. No. 11 of 1993). Signed on 20 January 1993. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Forestry (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1997 (S.I. No. 300 of 1997). Signed on 8 July 1997. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997 (S.I. No. 302 of 1997). Signed on 8 July 1997. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Agriculture and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1999 (S.I. No. 307 of 1999). Signed on 21 September 1999. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Rural Development (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 (S.I. No. 296 of 2002). Signed on 18 June 2002. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Horse and Greyhound Racing (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 (S.I. No. 297 of 2002). Signed on 18 June 2002. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 13 September 2021.
^Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 (S.I. No. 306 of 2002). Signed on 18 June 2002. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Sea Fisheries, Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2007 (S.I. No. 707 of 2007). Signed on 9 October 2007. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Agriculture and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2007 (S.I. No. 705 of 2007). Signed on 9 October 2007. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Horse and Greyhound Racing (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. No. 179 of 2010). Signed on 22 April 2010. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 13 September 2021.
^Marine Tourism (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 163 of 2011). Signed on 5 April 2011. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
^Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 455 of 2011). Signed on 8 September 2011. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 14 September 2019.
