Richard Bruton TD was appointed Minister of Communications, Climate Action & Environment on 16 October 2018 having previously served as Minister of Education and Skills in the current Government.
Richard was Minister for Enterprise and Employment from 1994 to 1997 when 1,000 jobs a week were being created in Ireland. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce, from 1986 to 1987.
Richard was first elected to Dáil Éireann for Dublin North Central in 1982, having previously been a member of the Senate and a Local Authority. He has had wide experience in the Fine Gael Front Bench, holding eight different portfolios including Finance, Education and Science, Employment, Economic Planning and Public Sector Reform. He also held the post of Director of Policy.
Richard is a research economist by profession and worked as an economist before entering politics in the private sector and with the ESRI.
The role of the Minister's Office is to:
- to liaise between the Minister and the Department
- to provide administrative services for the Minister
- to liaise with the Chief Whip's Office on Dáil business
- to organise briefings, speeches and press releases for the Minister
- to deal with correspondence and queries from Members of the Oireachtas, members of the public, public representatives, foreign embassies and other organisations
- to co-ordinate and organise the Minister's appointments, diary functions and travel arrangements