Coalition leaders set to meet this week to discuss ministerial roles

The Coalition leaders are set to meet this week to discuss ministerial roles ahead of the role of taoiseach turning over to Fine Gael later in the month.

Talks between the party leaders had been set for last week but were rearranged, and are not now expected to take place until after the Cabinet meets on Wednesday.

Ahead of the changeover attention on any reshuffle in ministerial jobs has focused on the Minister of State ranks, including the potential appointment of another Junior Minister to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, headed up by Green Party Minister Roderic O’Gorman.

There is speculation in particular that Fine Gael will seek to refresh its Ministers of State, with Colm Brophy (foreign affairs), Frank Feighan (health) and Josepha Madigan (special education) seen as vulnerable.

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Most Cabinet-level speculation has focused on the future of Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. But reports in recent days have contended that there is a tussle under way for control of the Department of Rural Affairs, currently held by Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys.

Green Party sources pushed back over the weekend on any suggestion that Mr O’Gorman’s department could be formally split up, with some responsibilities being hived off due to the workload he faces. However, the appointment of another Minister of State, who would assume some responsibilities in the area of integration, is seen as a possibility, and one which Green Party sources are more open to.

Asked on Sunday on RTÉ's The Week in Politics about Mr O’Gorman’s workload, Minister of State Damien English said there are “a lot of departments under pressure, and we’re trying to naturally adapt to situations like what’s happened in Ukraine”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin last week said Mr O’Gorman has an “extraordinary workload”. In addition to handling the reception of refugees from Ukraine and elsewhere, the department is working through significant reforms in the childcare sector and ongoing issues around the mother and baby homes report and the excavation of human remains found at former institutional homes.

Sources are also speculating over the post of Government chief whip, who sits at Cabinet. It is due to rotate to Fine Gael along with the taoiseach’s position. Brendan Griffin, Fine Gael TD for Kerry, is deputy Government whip, but each party only has one “super junior” position at Cabinet – which must also be chief whip for the party that holds the taoiseach’s chair.

Making room for Mr Griffin could mean dropping Hildegarde Naughton, which would present a political headache for the Government on the grounds of gender and geography, given she is the only Connacht TD sitting at Cabinet.