Paschal Donohoe says question of swap with McGrath ‘above my pay grade’

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said it is "above my pay grade" to say if he will swap jobs with Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath at the end of next year.

Under the Coalition Government deal Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar are to switch roles in December 2022.

At the time of the Government formation talks it was reported that the holders of the two main economic portfolios in Cabinet would also trade jobs when the transition happens.

Mr McGrath was asked about such a swap last month.

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He told the Sunday Independent: “If your question is, ‘Would I like to be Minister for Finance?’, I certainly would.”

Mr Donohoe was asked about the expectation that he would switch jobs with Mr McGrath at a press conference on Tuesday.

He said: “There are some matters that are above my pay grade to comment on and one of them is who does this job.”

Decision

“It’s up to others to comment on that and make a decision in relation to it. But there’s a long way to go in this job until next year,” Mr Donohoe added.

Mr Donohoe was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2016 to 2020 and was also appointed to the finance brief when Mr Varadkar became taoiseach in 2017.

He was elected as president of the Eurogroup last year.

Mr Donohoe was also asked about speculation over whether or not he will run in the next general election.

He said: “I am categorically looking forward to putting my name forward in Dublin Central in the next general election.

“I’m not one of these people that ever indicated when I was going to either get into or indeed leave public life.

“Being a TD for Dublin Central is an enormous privilege and I intend to put my name forward on many occasions into the future.”