List of female ministers of state of the Republic of Ireland

As of 2025[update], 34 women have served as Ministers of State in Ireland.

Six of the twenty Ministers of State appointed by the government of Leo Varadkar in December 2022 were women, with two regularly attending cabinet.

[4] There are currently four Ministers of State who regularly attend cabinet, two of whom are women.

[7] Unlike senior government ministers, who are appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach and the prior approval of Dáil Éireann, Ministers of State are appointed directly by the government, on the nomination of the Taoiseach.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn was the first and only woman to be appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary, when she was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce by Jack Lynch in 1977.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn , who in 1977 became the first female Parliamentary Secretary; and in 1978 became the first female Minister of State.