Ireland exploring if Donohoe and McGrath could both attend Eurogroup meetings

Ireland is exploring whether other European Union states would allow Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath both to attend meetings of the Eurogroup, the club of euro-zone finance ministers, in an effort to solve one of the major issues affecting the December Cabinet reshuffle while keeping the presidency of the powerful group in Irish hands.

Mr Donohoe’s term at the helm of the powerful group of finance ministers is due to expire in mid-January, making for intense negotiations between the Government Coalition partners over how the December reshuffle could be tailored to allow for him to stand for a second term.

Mr Donohoe is to make an announcement on whether he intends to run to remain as Eurogroup president by Monday, when finance ministers will meet in Brussels and fire the starting gun on an election process to choose a chair, The Irish Times understands.

Fianna Fáil has insisted that Mr McGrath must take over as Minister for Finance in the December Cabinet reshuffle, raising questions over how Mr Donohoe could retain a position usually held by a finance minister.

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Though it is yet to be formally decided, it is the overwhelming expectation in Fianna Fáil and in wider government circles that Mr McGrath will become minister for finance in December.

One solution being sounded out to test the reaction of other member states in Brussels is whether both Mr McGrath and Mr Donohoe could attend the Eurogroup: Mr McGrath as minister for finance and Ireland’s representative, and Mr Donohoe as the group’s president.

Irish officials believe there is no legal impediment to this, and point to a precedent in the early days of the Eurogroup when it was chaired by Jean-Claude Juncker while Luxembourg had a different finance minister who also attended.

However, some officials have expressed scepticism about such an arrangement because it would be at odds with the current practice in European Council meetings, in which the representative from the country that holds the presidency chairs the meeting while remaining the sole attendee from their state.

It is understood that Mr McGrath would not object to such an arrangement if it was deemed feasible. However, the ‘red lines’ articulated by the Minister in September remain – namely that any arrangement that would see powers transferred from the Department of Finance to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform would be seen as a significant diminution of the powers of the minister for finance and would not be acceptable.

The next meeting of the 19 finance ministers of euro-using countries will be held in Brussels on Monday, when it will be formally announced that an election will be held for the next term of its presidency, officials say.

The member states will be informed of a deadline to submit candidates for the election, which is expected to take place when they meet again on December 5th.

“Ministers are completely entitled to stand for the job even if the incumbent stands to run again, and we want to run this in an open, transparent manner so everyone has an opportunity and the Eurogroup chooses the person who they believe is the best equipped to lead the group,” an EU official said.

“Whether it will be a new or old president, that remains to be seen,” the official added, saying he was “waiting for the announcement by the Eurogroup president whether he will or will not stand for re-election”.

An election would have been held irrespective of whether Mr Donohoe intended to stand for a second term, officials say. Mr Donohoe’s term has been broadly well thought of and his supporters had hoped he could run for a second term unopposed, but this has been complicated by the uncertainty over his position at home.