Valera, whom he often defended from allegations of totalitarian style policies. Smith refuted these allegations, citing that he felt de Valera had always given a voice to members of the party. He worked as Parliamentary Secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach (Government Chief Whip). Smith identified this time during World War II as his most fulfilling period in Irish politics. He was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance in 1943. He served under Seán T. O'Kelly and Frank Aiken during his tenure in the department. He was briefly Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture in January 1947, before his appointment as Minister for Agriculture later that month. He held this position until the collapse of the Fianna Fáil government which had been in power for nearly 16 years. The party was in opposition until the 1951 Irish general election. Smith was then appointed as Minister for Local Government. Smith focused on many social issues, especially the tuberculosis issue in Ireland. He advocated for the reduction of overcrowding in the slums of Dublin. He also oversaw the doubling of the car license fee to ensure the government had enough cashflow for the upkeep of urban and rural roads. The improvement of roads also facilitated unemployment programs by offering recruitment opportunities to work on the roads. The fund for road improvement soon amounted to £3 million, and work began on surfacing the 34,000 miles of road which remained below standard. The Fianna Fail government collapsed in 1954 and was replaced by the Second Inter-Party Government, led by John A. Costello; Smith returned to the position of Minister for Local Government when Fianna Fail were re-elected at the 1957 Irish general election. Smith was appointed again as Minister for Agriculture in 1957 when Fianna Fail returned to government. His main objectives while in this office were to eliminate cattle tuberculosis, which proved to be a serious issue for Irish farmers at the time. He also encouraged greater productivity from the primary economic sector, specifically farming and also aimed to improve grassland quality across the island. Outside of agriculture, Smith continued to serve as Minister for Local Government. He also was part of a group of ministers who supervised the First Programme for Economic Expansion, an economic development plan by T. K. Whitaker, Secretary at the Department of Finance, that has been heavily praised as the programme that helped