The Minister for Education and Youth (Irish: An tAire Oideachais agus Óige) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Education and Youth.

The current Minister for Education and Youth is Helen McEntee, TD.

She is assisted by one Minister of State: The minister engages in a wide range of activities relating to education in the Republic of Ireland, including policy planning, quality assurance and the provision of a broad range of services.

After the Second Dáil met in August 1921, the President Éamon de Valera proposed that this position be altered to that of Minister for Education, saying "It was obvious the Minister in charge should be capable of dealing with the part referring to Irish but he thought the Department should have a wider meaning than at present".

[4] It was given a statutory basis in the Irish Free State as one of the positions in the Executive Council under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924.