Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage () is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Departmental team

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

Overview

The headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are in The Custom House, Dublin 1. The department also has offices in Wexford and Ballina, County Mayo, with the headquarters of Met Éireann, the weather forecasting service, in Glasnevin, Dublin.

The department has the following divisions:

• Local government
• Housing policy and standards
• Heritage
• Met Éireann
• Local government audit service
• Affordable housing
• Corporate and business support
• Water
• Planning
• Homelessness, rental and social inclusion
• Social housing delivery

Through its local government functions, it is responsible for the conduct of elections and referendums.

Aegis bodies

The following bodies are under the aegis of the department:

• An Coimisiún Pleanála
• An Fóram Uisce
• Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA)
• Docklands Oversight and Consultative Forum
• the Electoral Commission
• Gas Networks Ireland
• Heritage Council
• Housing Agency
• Housing Finance Agency
• Land Development Agency
• Local Government Management Agency
• National Oversight and Audit Commission
• National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee
• Pyrite Resolution Board
• Residential Tenancies Board
• Property Services Regulatory Authority
• Property Services Appeal Board
• Tailte Éireann, an agency for surveying, registering ownership, and valuing land.
• Uisce Éireann, formerly Irish Water, state-owned water utility
• Valuation Tribunal
• Waterways Ireland

History

In the Ministry of Dáil Éireann in the Irish Republic (1919–1922), a Ministry of Local Government was established on 2 April 1919. 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:

It also assigned it with the following branches of administration:

• 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

References

External links

• History of the Department
• Structure of the Department