TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny has named a number of younger TDs and women as Ministers of State to redress the age and gender profile of his Cabinet.
Mr Kenny announced the names of the 15 Ministers of State yesterday before flying to Brussels for talks with the president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.
There are four women and a cross-section of TDs from different age groups and different regions in the junior ministerial team, which was appointed by the Government on the nomination of Mr Kenny.
The appointment of Lucinda Creighton as Minister of State for European Affairs was one of the big surprises. An outspoken critic of Mr Kenny over the past year or so, she was not expected to feature in his ministerial team. Her appointment to European Affairs in the run-up to the Irish presidency of the EU next year has given her an important role in Government.
Another key appointment is that of Brian Hayes as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for public service reform and the Office of Public Works.
Fergus O’Dowd, who was reportedly very disappointed at being passed over for the Cabinet, has been appointed Minister of State for Enterprise with responsibility for the New Era project, which was a key element of the Fine Gael manifesto.
On the Labour side, three women have been appointed as Ministers of State following the controversy that developed over Joan Burton’s failure to be appointed to Finance.
The appointment of Róisín Shortall to Primary Health Care and Jan O’Sullivan to Development Aid and Trade were expected, but the promotion of Kathleen Lynch to Disability, Equality and Mental Health came as a welcome surprise to many Labour supporters. Fine Gael got nine of the Minister of State positions while six went to Labour.
Last night, on the eve of crucial talks on the interest rate on Ireland’s bailout loans, Mr Kenny vowed in Brussels to fight renewed pressure from Germany and France to dilute Ireland’s corporation tax regime. After talks with Mr Barroso, Mr Kenny said he was not prepared to accept any increase in the 12.5 per cent tax rate or any harmonisation of the tax base.
“Insofar as Ireland is considered we have been very consistent, very solid, both in respect of the tax base and the tax rate,” he told reporters.
Mr Kenny, who attends his first EU summit today, said the commission was “very supportive” of Ireland’s case for a lower interest rate. Mr Barroso’s spokeswoman said the two leaders also discussed “the importance of the due diligence that is being undertaken to get to the bottom of the difficulties in the Irish banking sector”.
Mr Kenny said he agreed that ongoing stress tests of the banks were very important, adding that he was keen to learn the truth of the banks’ indebtedness.
In an indication of the challenge Mr Kenny faces in Brussels, Germany indicated before the summit that it sees corporate tax concessions as the price of a reduction in the interest rate on Ireland’s rescue loans. At closed-door talks in Berlin yesterday, German chancellor Angela Merkel told MPs she would back a lower interest rate if Ireland backed a common corporate tax base in the euro region.