Gilmore defends Burton move

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has today defended his decision not to hand Labour Party deputy leader Joan Burton a finance ministry.

Mr Gilmore said the position a person holds in opposition is not necessarily the one they get in government and that he believed Ms Burton had been offered a highly significant role as the Minister for Social Protection.

He said Ms Burton, the party’s long-term finance spokesperson, had “a fabulous grasp of economic issues” and that her experience in the area would be utilised in Cabinet discussions on financial matters.

“The portfolio that has been allocated to Joan Burton is the highest spending department in the State,” he said. “Forty per cent of day-to-day spending is routed through the Department of Social Protection. It is an area of huge importance to the country and to the Labour Party and every pensioner and person who is out of work.”

Mr Gilmore said the issues Ms Burton would have to handle were “hugely central” during the election campaign and that he believed it was important the “strongest possible minister” should be assigned the social protection brief.

"It's a ministry that in times past when the Labour Party was in government that was held either by the leader or deputy leader," he told RTÉ News at One.

“To get us out of the difficulty that we’re in, to get people back to work and to ensure that there’s fairness . . . I wanted to have the strongest possible minister dealing with the issues of fairness and ensuring there’s a champion in government for those people who are out of work.”

When asked if Ms Burton was upset to be offered the portfolio, Mr Gilmore said: “No. Joan Burton is a very experienced politician.”

He continued: “She’s somebody who is an outstanding member of the Labour Party. She is deputy leader of the Labour Party and somebody I work very closely with and somebody who is going to do an outstanding job both as Minister for Social Protection and in contributing to the overall Cabinet and Government discussions and decisions in relation to economic policy.”

Mr Gilmore denied allegations of sexism in relation to his Cabinet appointments. He said he had to nominate 11 people to positions in Government and that five of these were women, including the first-ever female attorney general, Máire Whelan.