Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will today announce a minor reshuffle of junior ministers, including the transfer of Minister of State for the Marine Pat the Cope Gallagher to the Department of Transport.
Mr Ahern was last night staying silent about the appointments, caused by the forced resignation in December of Dublin North Central TD Ivor Callely from the junior post in the Department of Transport.
Mr Callely's constituency colleague, Seán Haughey, who chairs the Oireachtas environment committee, is deemed by Fianna Fáil backbench colleagues to be the favourite, although Dublin North's Jim Glennon is also strongly favoured.
However, the appointment of Mr Haughey would allow Mr Ahern to offer lower-grade promotions to a succession of Fianna Fáil TDs, one of whom will replace Mr Haughey at the head of the environment committee while others will be needed to fill the vice-chairman, convenor and deputy whip posts on the Oireachtas body.
In perhaps one of his final acts at the Department of the Marine, Mr Gallagher yesterday awarded a €3.2 million grant to Greencastle harbour under the fishery harbours development programme.
This is in addition to €1.1 million given over the past three years for work at the harbour.
Mr Gallagher's relations with Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey have become frayed over the latter's determination to impose criminal penalties on fishermen who break fishery laws. The legislation will come before the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, which is chaired by Cork North Central TD Mr Noel O'Flynn, this week.
Speaking last Friday to Ocean FM in Sligo, the Taoiseach indicated he would be making the minimal number of changes to his junior team.
"I think we are coming to a conclusion on that ... I am not doing a total reshuffle at this stage. I am just making a few changes along the way."
Questioned specifically about Mr Gallagher, Mr Ahern said: "It's well known that Pat has served a long time in the particular brief that he is in, in Marine. He has done a lot of work on that, and Pat in some ways would probably like to be doing something else for a while."