Extract from the Ministers and Secretaries Act (1924) dealing with the Department of External Affairs

(xi) The Department of External Affairs which shall comprise the administration and business generally of public services in connection with communications and transactions between the Government of Saorstát Éireann and the Government of any other state or nation, diplomatic and consular representation of Saorstát Éireann in any country or place, international amenities, the granting of passports and of visés to passports, and all powers, duties and functions connected with the same, and of which Department the head shall be, and shall be styled, an t-Aire Gnóthaí Coigríhe or (in English) the Minister for External Affairs.