De Valera to resign portfolio in December

Minister of State Sile De Valera said today she has an agreement with the Taoiseach that she will not step down from her portfolio until the end of this year.

Pressure on Ms de Valera, a junior minister at the Department of Education and Science, has been growing since Bertie  Ahern's reshuffle of junior ministries earlier this month.

The Taoiseach told Clare FM last week there was a "long-standing tradition" that junior government ministers retiring as TDs would relinquish their portfolios to allow a backbencher to be promoted.

Dublin North Central TD, Sean Haughey, who was widely tipped to be promoted from the back benches, said he was considering his future in politics after being overlooked for promotion, when Mr Ahern instead appointed the Co Meath TD Mary Wallace as a junior minister.

Ms de Valera said in a statement today she told Mr Ahern at a meeting on November 6 ^ththat she would not be running in the next General Election.

"At that meeting I raised the matter of my stepping down as Minister of State. I was immediately told by the Taoiseach to carry on with the job in hand," the Fianna Fail Clare TD said.

"I suggested that a time limit should be set for my stepping down as Minister of State. The Taoiseach and I agreed that I would vacate that position in December 2006.

"To suggest that the Taoiseach was signalling for me to resign when he talked about the tradition in the party is a complete fallacy," Ms de Valera said. "The Taoiseach and I are friends for many years and we had an agreement on this issue dating back to November 6 ^th, 2005."

Ms de Valera had insisted in previous media interviews that the Taoiseach wanted her to continue in her Minister of State role until the General Election.

The Taoiseach's spokeswoman said Mr Ahern was aware Ms de Valera was to make a statement today as he had held a discussion with her earlier today. She insisted Ms de Valera made the announcement of her own volition.

"The Taoiseach doesn't wish in any way to refute this statement," she said. "There is no junior minister vacancy at the moment and the Taoiseach will deal with any such vacancy when it arises."

Mr Ahern didn't reveal before now that the junior minister would be stepping down in December because it was a private agreement between them, she added. "The Taoiseach is not in the business of outlining agreements with TDs or ministers. It was a private agreement they had."

It is understood that the Clare TD made the statement today because she was concerned in recent days at local media speculation in her constituency about her position.

Additional reporting: PA