Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine


The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is a department of the Government of Ireland. The mission of the department is to lead the sustainable development of a competitive, consumer focused agri-food sector and to contribute to a vibrant rural economy and society. It is led by the Minister for Agriculture and the Marine who is assisted by two Ministers of State.

Departmental team

The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are in Agriculture House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. The departmental team consists of the following:
In carrying out its mandate the Department undertakes a variety of functions including:
Since Britain is Ireland's main trading partner, Brexit will have a huge impact on Ireland's agri-food sector. Britain was the market for 270,000 tonnes of Irish beef export. The tariff rates will "virtually wipe out" agri-food trade to Britain, according to the Irish Farmers' Association president Joe Healy.

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. It was given a statutory basis by the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924. Over the years its name and functions have changed several times.

Alteration of name and transfer of functions