Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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191. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for a digital copy of the Ministerial briefing document provided by his Department on taking office, along with copies of Ministerial briefs provided to Ministers of State of his Department; to outline the duties he intends to delegate by statutory instrument to his Minister of State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7750/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As stated in PQ 2761/25 & PQ4092/25, I will publish versions of the Ministerial briefs prepared by departmental officials for me as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister of State with special responsibility for European Affairs and the Minister of State with special responsibility for International Development and Diaspora, with redactions made in line with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014. These will be available by the end of February and will be located under the 'publications' section of .

As stated in PQ 4608/25 there are two Ministers of State at my department, Mr Thomas Byrne TD and Mr Neale Richmond TD. On 29 January 2025, Minister Byrne was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs, and Minister Richmond was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for International Development and Diaspora.

The Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No.2) Act, 1977 provides for the delegation of statutory ministerial powers and duties to Ministers of State. This may be done at the request of the Minister concerned, by Government Order.

My statutory powers as Minister for Foreign Affairs relate to consular, passport and other technical matters and it is not the practice, nor is it considered necessary, to delegate these functions.