Secretary General

The Secretary General position in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is held by Brendan Gleeson. The Secretary General is the most senior civil servant, accounting officer and head of the Department.

Responsibilities of the Secretary General

Under the Public Service Management Act 1997 (No.27 of 1977), the Secretary General of the Department has the following responsibilities:

• managing the business generally of the Department;

• implementing Government policies appropriate to the Department;

• monitoring Government policies that affect the Department;

• delivering outputs as determined by the Minister;

• providing policy advice to the Minister on all matters within the remit of the Department;

• preparing Statements of Strategy for submission to the Minister;

• providing progress reports to the Minister on the implementation of the Statement of Strategy;

• ensuring proper use of resources and the provision of cost-effective public services;

• preparing an outline of how specific responsibilities are to be assigned to other officers down through the Department;

• managing matters relating to appointments, performance, discipline and dismissal of civil servants below the grade of Principal or its equivalent.

Section 4(1) of the Public Service Management Act empowers the Secretary General to assign to other officers of the Department (or grade or grades of officer) responsibility for the performance of his or her functions.

The Department’s mission is to lead, enable and regulate the sector in a way that optimises its contribution to social, economic and environmental sustainability.