Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wikipedia
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "Minister of State" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister. In other countries a "Minister of State" is a holder of a more senior position, such as a cabinet minister or even a head of government.
__NOTOC__ A Minister of State in Ireland (also called a junior minister) is of non- Cabinet rank attached to one or more Departments of State of the Government of Ireland and assists a Minister of the Government.
Unlike other government ministers who are appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach, with the prior nomination of Dáil Éireann, Ministers of State are appointed by the cabinet, on nomination of the Taoiseach. The title Minister of State is dissimilar and its role is less than that of a Secretary of State in the Government of the United Kingdom.
The post of Minister of State was created by the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1977 and commenced in 1978, and under the Act a Minister of State may be delegated a power or duty of the Minister of the Government they support. The position was created to replace the post of Parliamentary Secretary, the junior rank of ministers which had existed from 1924 until 1978. In the original act of 1977 the number of Ministers of State was limited to 10, but in 1980 this was raised to 15, and in 1995 it was raised to 17, and in 2007 it was raised to 20. Brian Cowen asked all 20 Ministers of State to resign on 21 April 2009. He re-appointed a reduced number of 15 ministers the following day, when the Dáil resumed after the Easter recess.
Minister of State (Children and Youth) is a Cabinet of Canada portfolio, created in 2003, by the Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin, for the 37th Parliament of Canada. The current Minister of State (Children and Youth) is Ethel Blondin-Andrew.
The Minister of State is the head of the government of Monaco, being appointed by and subordinate to the Prince or Princess of Monaco. During his term, he is responsible for directing the work of the Monegasque government and is in charge of foreign relations. As the Prince's representative, the Minister of State also directs the executive services, commands the Police and the Military, and presides (with voting powers) over the Council of Government.
A Minister of State is a junior cabinet minister in the Canadian Cabinet, usually given specific responsibilities to assist a senior cabinet minister in a specific area.
A secretary of state also holds many similar responsibilities in assisting senior cabinet members, being members of the Ministry and the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. A Secretary of State is legally a Minister of State styled as secretaries. However Secretaries of State are considered junior to ministers of state and are not members of Cabinet.
The Minister of State is an honorary title in the Netherlands. The title is formally granted together with the style Excellency, by the Monarch, but on the initiative of the cabinet of the Netherlands. It is given on a personal basis, for life rather than for a specified period. The title is granted for exceptional merits, generally to senior politicians at the end of their party career. Ministers of state are often former cabinet members or party leaders. Ministers of State advise the Sovereign in delicate situations, with moral authority but without formal competence. A Minister of State is not part of a cabinet, but may be asked to represent the government for certain events. The Ministers of State have a diplomatic passport. Before World War II it was common for Ministers of State to still have a public function, some notable as Pieter Cort van der Linden and Hendrikus Colijn, were Minister of State while they served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands. After World War II, Louis Beel was the only person who still sat in the cabinet while he was Minister of State.
Marga Klompé and Els Borst are the only female Ministers of State in Dutch history.
The Minister of State of Greece is a member of the Greek Cabinet.
The current Ministers of State are Alekos Flambouraris & Nikos Pappas, serving in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras since 23 September 2015.
Usage examples of "minister of state".
At the public audience, the unknown stranger advanced to the throne, and informed Garribald that the ambassador was indeed the minister of state, but that he alone was the friend of Autharis, who had trusted him with the delicate commission of making a faithful report of the charms of his spouse.
The correspondence between the prince and his subjects was managed by the four scrinia, or offices of this minister of state.
The second rank was that of a minister of state, a lieutenant of the Samanides, ^2 who broke, by his revolt, the bonds of political slavery.
She was twenty-three years old, and she had come a long hard way from the house in Mayfair where Madame Hortense had sold her maidenhood to an elderly Whig minister of state for one hundred guineas.
He became acquainted with a neighbor, Senator Lacour, who twice had been Minister of State, and was now vegetating in the senate, silent during its sessions, but restless and voluble in the corridors in order to maintain his influence.
The pilot identified the plane as the personal aircraft of the Cameroon minister of state transport, out of Youanda bound for Dakar, Senegal.