Department of the Taoiseach

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Government Buildings, Dublin, is the location of the Department of the Taoiseach

The Department of the Taoiseach (Irish: Roinn an Taoisigh) is the government department of the prime minister of the Republic of Ireland, An Taoiseach (in the Irish language, the leader). It is based in Government Buildings, the headquarters of the Irish government, on Merrion Street in Dublin.

The Department was created in 1937 and replaced the Department of the President of the Executive Council, the department of the Irish prime minister under the previous prime ministerial title in the Irish Free State.

Both departments are descended from the Chief Secretary for Ireland's Office, originally based in Dublin Castle, which was the administrative office of the dominant politician of cabinet rank in the British government in Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The head of the Department of the Taoiseach (sometimes also written as the Department of An Taoiseach) is known as the Secretary-General of the Department.

[edit] Functions

The main role of the Department is to support and advise the Taoiseach in carrying out various duties. The Department also supplies administrative support to the Government Chief Whip in respect of his duties and provides the Secretariat to the Government. The Department has a pivotal role in acting as a link between the President, the Taoiseach and other Departments of State.

In addition, the Department of the Taoiseach is involved in a number of other areas such as the development and co-ordination of policy in relation to economic and social development (Social Partnership), Northern Ireland, the European Union and Oireachtas reform. It also arranges State functions such as the annual National Day of Commemoration, Presidential inaugurations, State dinners and provides a protocol service to the Taoiseach of the day.