In the Irish Free State, an extern minister, formally a Minister who shall not be a Member of the Executive Council,[1] was a minister who had charge of a department but was not a member of the Executive Council. Extern ministers were individually nominated by Dáil Éireann (the lower house), whereas of the Executive Council only the President was: he in turn nominated the other members. All ministers were formally appointed by the Governor-General. The Executive Council included the senior ministers, exercised cabinet collective responsibility, and had to be TDs (members of the Dáil); the extern ministers filled more junior technocratic roles, and need not be legislators, though in fact all were TDs. In practice, all ministers formed a united administration, and no extern ministers were appointed after 1927.
- ^ "[Dáil] Committee selected to make recommendations as to Ministers who shall not be Members of the Executive Council". Committee Reports. Oireachtas. 1922. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2014.