Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

It is less complicated than most Bills. The explanatory memorandum states the purpose of the Bill is to increase from 17 to 20 the statutory limit on the number of Ministers of State the Government can appoint. The office of Minister of State was first set out in the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1977 which provided for a maximum number of ten Ministers of State. This number was increased to 15 under section 2 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1980. It was further increased to 17 under section 1 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1995.

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