Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (An Roinn Fiontar, Trádála agus Fostaíochta) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Departmental team

 * Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Peter Burke, TD
 * Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation: Dara Calleary, TD
 * Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Businesses: Emer Higgins, TD
 * Secretary General of the Department: Declan Hughes

Overview
The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are at Kildare Street, Dublin. It is one of the most important economic departments in the Irish Government, responsible for the implementation of policy in five key areas:
 * Enterprise, Innovation, Growth
 * Quality Work and Learning
 * Making Markets and Regulation work better
 * Quality, Value and Continuous Improvement
 * the European Union.

A large element of the work of the Department arises from Ireland's membership of a number of international organisations, in particular the European Union and the World Trade Organization. The Department plays an active role in the development of EU and WTO policies, particularly to ensure that Ireland's interests are protected. The Department is organised into five divisions. They are:
 * Innovation and Investment Division
 * Enterprise and Trade Division
 * Commerce, Consumer and Competition Division
 * Employment Rights and Industrial Relations Division
 * Corporate Services

Bodies and offices associated with the Department
The department oversees a large number of bodies and agencies. In July 2009 the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes proposed merging the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency. However, this process remains at an early stage. Until 2010, the Department was responsible for FÁS, which had its responsibilities divided up between two bodies in 2013. Bodies and agencies associated with the Department include:


 * Companies Registration Office
 * Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
 * Local Enterprise Offices
 * Director of Corporate Enforcement
 * Employment Appeals Tribunal
 * Enterprise Ireland
 * Health and Safety Authority
 * IDA Ireland
 * InterTradeIreland (under North-South co-operation structures)
 * Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority
 * Labour Court
 * Workplace Relations Commission
 * National Standards Authority of Ireland
 * Office of the Register of Friendly Societies
 * Patents Office
 * Personal Injuries Assessment Board

History
In the Ministry of Dáil Éireann of the Irish Republic (1919–1922) there was a separate Minister for Industries and a Director of Trade and Commerce. These titled varied over the course of the ministries established during this revolutionary period. In the Irish Free State, there was a Minister for Industry and Commerce as part of the first Executive Council of the Irish Free State established in 1922. This 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 trade, commerce, industry, and labour, industrial and commercial organisations and combinations, industrial and commercial statistics, transport, shipping, natural resources, and all powers, duties and functions connected with the same, including the promotion of trade and commerce by means of educational grants, and shall include in particular the business, powers, duties and functions of the branches and officers of the public services specified in the Sixth Part of the Schedule to this Act, and of which Department the head shall be, and shall be styled, an t-Aire Tionnscail agus Tráchtála or (in English) the Minister for Industry and Commerce."

The Schedule assigned it with the duties of the following bodies:


 * Ministry of Transport (excluding the Roads Department).
 * The Board of Trade.
 * Registrar of Companies.
 * Registrar of Business Names.
 * Registration of Shipping.
 * Minister for Labour.
 * Electricity Commissioners.
 * Chief and other Inspectors of Factories.