Government of Ireland

The Government is the group of senior ministers responsible for the executive power of the State. This means that the Government is responsible for giving effect to laws.

Executive power includes the power to execute or carry out laws with the assistance of the civil service, police force and military. The head of Government is the Taoiseach, who is nominated by the Dáil. The Taoiseach nominates a deputy (the Tánaiste) and a cabinet of ministers to take responsibility for the departments of government.

The Government decides major questions of policy and carries out a number of different and important functions.