The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Noel Grealish, has confirmed that the Secretary General of DAFM, Brendan Gleeson, will retire on October 1.

Minister Grealish told the Seanad that he wanted to wish "Brendan Gleeson well".

"He has had a long and distinguished career in the civil service and rose to the top in the Department of Agriculture," the minister told senators.

Brendan Gleeson was appointed by the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed as Secretary General of DAFM on October 2, 2018.

According to the department he had previously served in a number of senior leadership roles in DAFM prior to his appointment, with responsibility for areas such as international trade, Brexit, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) development and sectoral policy development in the meat and livestock sectors.

He also had responsibility for governance in a number of state agencies, served as a member of the Teagasc Authority, and in policy and operational roles in the Department of Industry and Commerce and the European Commission.

The Secretary General position in DAFM is the most senior civil servant, accounting officer and head of the department.

The responsibilities of the Secretary General of DAFM include:

Managing the business generally of DAFM;
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 DAFM;
Preparing statements of strategy for submission to the minister.

Minister Grealish told the Seanad that Brendan Gleeson had played a "major role" in DAFM and that it was important to acknowledge that.