Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Irish: An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Department overview
Formed	2 April 1919
Jurisdiction	Government of Ireland
Headquarters	The Custom House, Dublin 53°20′54″N 6°15′12″W
Minister responsible	James Browne, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Department executive	Graham Doyle, Secretary General
Website	Official website

Departmental team

The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are in The Custom House, Dublin. The departmental team consists of the following:

• Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: James Browne, TD
  • Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with special responsibility for local government and planning: John Cummins, TD
  • Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with special responsibility for nature, heritage and biodiversity: Christopher O'Sullivan, TD
  • Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with special responsibility for housing: Kieran O'Donnell, TD
• Secretary General of the Department: Graham Doyle^[1]

Overview

The Custom House, Dublin, is the departmental headquarters.

The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are in The Custom House, Dublin 1.

The department is responsible for, among other matters:

• housing
• the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland
• local authorities and related services
• the supervision of elections including the general election and presidential elections, and electronic voting arrangements
• Met Éireann, the weather forecasting service.
• Tailte Éireann, an agency for surveying, registering ownership, and valuing land.^[2][3]

History

In the Ministry of Dáil Éireann in the Irish Republic (1919–1922), a Ministry of Local Government was established on 2 April 1919.^[4] In the Irish Free State, there was a Minister for Local Government as part of the first Executive Council of the Irish Free State established in 1922. The Department of Local Government and Public Health was given a statutory basis by the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924. This act provided it with:^[5]

the administration and business generally of public services in connection with local government, public health, relief of the poor, care of the insane (including insane criminals), health insurance, elections to each House of the Oireachtas, elections to local bodies and authorities, registration of voters, maintenance of public roads, and highways, registration of births, deaths and marriages, and vital statistics 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 service specified in the Third Part of the Schedule to this Act, and of which Department the head shall be, and shall be styled, an t-Aire Rialtais Aitiúla agus Sláinte Puiblí or (in English) the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

It also assigned it with the following agencies:^[6]

• The Local Government Board for Ireland, including appeals under the Old Age Pensions Acts.
• The Inspectors of Lunatic Asylums in Ireland.
• National Health Insurance Commission.
• The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Ireland.
• Roads Department (formerly Ministry of Transport).
• Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper so far as concerned with Elections.
• General Nursing Council and Central Midwives Board.

Over the years the name and functions of the department have changed several times.

Alteration of name and transfer of functions

Date	Effect
2 June 1924	Establishment of the Department of Local Government and Public Health[7]
22 January 1947	Renamed as the Department of Local Government[8]
18 March 1947	Transfer of Health to the Department of Health[9]
10 October 1947	Transfer of Social Welfare to the Department of Social Welfare[10]
14 June 1954	Allocation of Oifig na Gaeltachta agus na gCeantar gCúng[11]
30 November 1956	Transfer of Oifig na Gaeltachta agus na gCeantar gCúng to Department of the Gaeltacht[12]
17 August 1977	Renamed as the Department of the Environment[13]
22 July 1997	Renamed as the Department of the Environment and Local Government[14]
26 September 1998	Transfer of Vocational Education Superannuation Schemes to the Department of Education and Science[15]
10 July 2002	Transfer of Heritage from the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs[16]
10 June 2003	Renamed as the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government[17]
15 January 2010	Transfer of Foreshore to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food[18]
1 May 2011	Transfer of Heritage to the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport[19]
1 May 2011	Transfer of Community from the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs[20]
2 May 2011	Renamed as the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government[21]
22 July 2016	Transfer of Environment to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources[22]
23 July 2016	Renamed as the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government[23]
27 July 2017	Transfer of Community Development to Department of Rural and Community Development[24]
1 August 2017	Renamed as the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government[25]
1 January 2018	Transfer of Ordnance Survey Ireland from the Department of Justice and Equality[26]
1 January 2018	Transfer of the Property Registration Authority from the Department of Justice and Equality[27]
1 January 2018	Transfer of the Valuation Office from the Department of Justice and Equality[28]
1 January 2018	Transfer of Motor Tax to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport[29]
1 June 2018	Transfer of Water Safety to the Department of Rural and Community Development[30]
9 September 2020	Transfer of Heritage from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht[31]
9 September 2020	Transfer of Inland Waterways from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht[32]
30 September 2020	Renamed as the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage[33]