Minister for Agriculture

Following the 1932 general election, Fianna Fáil came to office and Ryan was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, a position he would continuously hold for fifteen years. In agriculture the government's policy was based on the idea of self-sufficiency or autarky. "Irish farmers should have always been looking for prosperity from the towns of Britain. If they got people working in our own towns they would consume Irish produce," he declared at Blackwater, County Wexford calling it the idea of a cyclical arrangement.^[14]

Ryan was given the task of implementing the following policies: imports of wheat, sugar and other agricultural produce were restricted; farmers were given a guaranteed price for wheat; farmers were forced to use home-produced grain in animal feed and bakers had to use a certain percentage of Irish flour in their bread; and the sugar beet industry was expanded with the opening of new factories.

While these policies saw increases in sugar-beet production and in the growing of wheat the small farmers of Munster and Connacht gained little while the large farmers were the real beneficiaries. Ryan faced severe criticism over the Economic War with Britain: serious harm was done to the cattle trade, Ireland's main export earner. The government tried to compensate by giving bounties equal to the British duties, however, these had to be paid for by the taxpayer. The economic war ended in 1938 with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement between both governments, after a series of talks in London between the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, de Valera, Ryan and Seán Lemass.

During World War II self-sufficiency in food became essential. The Department of Agriculture ordered every farmer to till one-eighth of his land. This was raised to three-eighths in 1944.^[15] In spite of strict rationing and severe shortages, basic foodstuffs remained available. At war's end farmers discontent emerged once again. A new political party, Clann na Talmhan, was established in the late 1930s to represent the interests of smaller farmers in the west of Ireland. Similarly, much of the country's land had become exhausted due to increased wartime productivity and a shortage of fertilisers.

As Minister for Agriculture, Ryan was also involved the handover of Johnstown Castle estate, County Wexford in 1945.^[16] The facility became an important soil research centre initially under the Department for Agriculture and later as An Foras Talúntais (now Teagasc).^[17]

Minister for Health and Social Welfare

In 1947, after spending fifteen years as Minister for Agriculture, Ryan was appointed to the newly created positions of Minister for Health and Minister for Social Welfare. The minister brought the draft Health Bill to the cabinet's attention later that year. This legislation proposed to modernise the health service into two aspects – mother and child welfare and infectious diseases. De Valera was anxious about accepting these measures as government policy due to opposition from the Catholic Church. In fact, much of the legislation was enacted by Noel Browne, Ryan's successor as Minister from 1948 to 1951. Following Fianna Fáil's return to power at the 1951 general election, Ryan returned as Minister for Health and Social Welfare. During his second period in office he clashed with the Church once again over the implementation of the remaining aspects of the Mother and Child Scheme. Following negotiations with the hierarchy, adjustments on such issues as means testing and medical inspections were made and the legislation was passed in the Dáil. Following the 1954 general election, Fianna Fáil lost power and Ryan moved to the backbenches once again.

Minister for Finance

Following the 1957 general election, Fianna Fáil were back in office and de Valera's cabinet had a new look to it. In a clear message that there would be a change to economic policy Ryan, a close ally of Seán Lemass, was appointed Minister for Finance, replacing the conservative Seán MacEntee. The first sign of a new economic approach came in 1958, when Ryan brought the First Programme for Economic Development to the cabinet table. This plan, the brainchild of T. K. Whitaker, recognised that Ireland would have to move away from self-sufficiency towards free trade. It also proposed that foreign firms should be given grants and tax breaks to set up in Ireland.^[18]

When Seán Lemass succeeded de Valera as Taoiseach in 1959, Ryan was re-appointed as Minister for Finance. Lemass wanted to reward him for his loyalty by also naming him Tánaiste; however, the new leader felt obliged to appoint Seán MacEntee, one of the party elders to the position. Ryan continued to implement the First Programme throughout the early 1960s, achieving a record growth rate of 4 per cent by 1963. That year an even more ambitious Second Programme was introduced; however, it overreached and had to be abandoned. In spite of this, the annual growth rate averaged five per cent, the highest achieved since independence.