THE GOVERNMENT has not ruled out the possibility that more than five Fianna Fáil Ministers of State will be dropped when Taoiseach Brian Cowen cuts their number from 20 to 15 later this month.
All second-tier Ministers, including the Green Party’s Minister of State Trevor Sargent, will resign on April 21st. The Taoiseach will reappoint a reduced complement the following day.
Yesterday, a number of Ministers of State and Fianna Fáil TDs said they believed Mr Cowen might drop as many as eight junior ministers from the party and promote three TDs from the back-benches.
That prospect was not discounted by the Government spokesman who said that the only certainty was that 15 Ministers of State would be appointed on April 22nd. “That is not saying that the 15 will come out of the 20 (serving Ministers). I am sure that most will come and perhaps them all.”
There was a strong consensus among the TDs and Ministers of State contacted that there will be no change or reshuffle at senior ministerial level. The earliest that a reshuffle will occur, according to several sources, will be later this year. One Minister of State, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he believes that eight of the second-tier Ministers will not be reappointed.
“It is now becoming clear that five are going and probably three others. The Taoiseach will then appoint three from the backbenches.
“Perhaps one or two chairmen of [Oireachtas] committees will be promoted and he will let those being demoted down softly by giving them those jobs,” said the Minister of State.
However, Government Chief Whip Pat Carey said that the Coalition was also reducing the number of committees. Some Fianna Fáil TDs, therefore, will have to relinquish their position as committee chairs, making it unlikely that others will make way to accommodate demoted Ministers.
Mr Carey said parliamentary party members understood and accepted the situation.
“The parliamentary party has been engaged in a very significant degree at all stages to make sure that everybody understands what is coming down the tracks.”
A number of Ministers said that Mr Cowen will take geographical considerations into account.
‘‘It’s always important to get the geographical spread right. That is all the more important because of the local and European elections,” said one Minister of State.
It is also thought unlikely that both female Ministers of State, Máire Hoctor and Mary Wallace, will be dropped because the party has few female TDs, and fewer with the requisite experience, or the track record that would lend itself to promotion.
Three of the 20 Ministers of State are said to be sure of reappointment. They are: Mr Carey, Minister for Children Barry Andrews and Mr Sargent. Minister of State for European Affairs Dick Roche is also considered by colleagues to be safe, especially with the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty taking place later this year.