THE Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, has moved swiftly to replace Mrs Ma ire Geoghegan Quinn as health spokeswoman and introduced the Donegal TD, Dr Jim McDaid, to his front bench.
In a minimalist reshuffle announced last night, Mr Brian Cowen leaves his agriculture brief to take over Mrs Geoghegan Quinn's portfolio in health. Shadowing the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, in the coming weeks is considered a critical task in the light of the threatened nurses' strike and the ongoing controversy of the hepatitis C tribunal.
The former minister for agriculture, Mr Joe Walsh, leaves his current post as social welfare spokesman and returns to his old stamping ground. Mr Walsh has twice been agriculture minister.
Dr Michael Woods, a former minister for social welfare, returns to this portfolio, while Dr McDaid is promoted to his position as spokesman on equality and law reform.
Dr McDaid has been an outspoken and sometimes controversial figure in Leinster House but has long been tipped for promotion. He was nominated minister for defence in 1991 by the then Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, but asked him to withdraw his nomination under a barrage of opposition criticism and objections from Fianna Fail's coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats.
They objected to his appointment on the grounds that he was photographed the previous year - outside the Four Courts with Mr James Pius Clarke, a republican from Letterkenny whose extradition Dr McDaid had opposed.
Dr McDaid said he had asked the Taoiseach to withdraw his nomination to cabinet "to avoid the slightest suspicion, however unwarranted, attaching to the minister for defence".
Announcing the changes, Mr Ahern said Mrs Geoghegan Quinn had made a valuable contribution to the party's front bench "dealing with controversial issues forcefully, but in a caring and sensitive way".