Eminent Persons Lecture Series: The Hon. Richard Bruton, Minister for Education and Skills of Ireland

About The Hon. Richard Bruton

Richard Bruton TD (Member of Ireland’s Parliament) was appointed Minister of Education & Skills on 6 May 2016. As Minister, he launched the ‘Action Plan for Education’ aimed at making the Irish education and training service the best in Europe by 2026. Actions are aimed at improving outcomes for the learners who depend on the service, at breaking cycles of disadvantage, at supporting teachers and institutions to continually improve, at building better links between education and the broader community, and at improving the systems required to deliver these aims.

The Action Plan for Education builds on the successful model of the Action Plan for Jobs pioneered by Minister Bruton in early 2012, during his time as Minister for Jobs, which saw hundreds of thousands of positions created and unemployment fall significantly. In support of the Action Plan for Jobs, hundreds of measures were implemented right across government according to tight timetables that have made it easier to do business in Ireland, supported promising sectors and opened up new markets abroad.

Previously, Richard Bruton was Minister for Enterprise and Employment from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce, from 1986 to 1987.

First elected to Dáil Éireann (Ireland’s lower house of parliament) in 1982, having previously been a member of the Senate and a Local Authority, he has had wide experience in the Fine Gael Party’s 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.

Minister Bruton is a research economist by profession. Before entering politics, he worked as an economist in the private sector and with the Economic and Social Research Institute.