About Us

On this page, you will find information on the Department's role, how we are organised and how we carry out our work. This page also carries links to reports and policy documents of interest.

Our Organisation

The Minister

Joan Burton TD is the Minister for Social Protection. See here for a profile of the Minister and links to her briefing, expenses and travel itinerary.

The Department

The Mission Statement of the Department is to promote active participation in society through the provision of income supports, employment services and other services. See here for an overview of the Department.

The Secretary General

Ms. Niamh O'Donoghue is the Secretary General of the Department. Her profile is available here.

The Management Board

You can find information on the Department's Management Board, including presentations they have made to Oireachtas Committees, etc. here.

Our Organisation Structure

The Department had 5,175 staff (4,836 full-time equivalent posts) at the end of 2010. More detailed information, including our organisation structure chart is available here.

The National Employment and Entitlements Service (NEES)

The Department is establishing a new National Employment and Entitlements Service (NEES), as provided for in the Programme for Government. The objective is to integrate the provision of employment services and benefit payment services within the Department and in so doing to ensure that the payment of income supports to people who do not have a job is directly linked to the equally, if not more important, task of supporting such people in their pursuit of employment and related opportunities and improving their life chances.
See here for more information, including the NEES Project Plan.

Statutory bodies under our aegis

The Citizens Information Board, The Pensions Board and The Social Welfare Tribunal are the three State bodies under the aegis of the Department. See here for information and for details of how vacancies on these bodies are filled.