Minister for Finance (Ireland)

The Minister for Finance (An tAire Airgeadais) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland. The Minister for Finance leads the Department of Finance and is responsible for all financial and monetary matters of the state; and is considered the second most important member of the Government of Ireland, after the Taoiseach.

The current office holder is Jack Chambers, TD. He is assisted by one Minister of State Neale Richmond, TD.

Overview
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. Ministers for finance who later became Taoiseach include 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 (disestablished in 1817).

Budget
One of the most important aspects of the Minister's work is the creation of the annual budget which is delivered to the Dáil in a speech, which must be given 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.

Minister for Finance since 1919
{{legend|#E6E6AA|Denotes acting Minister for Finance}}