Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said any change of ministerial and junior ministerial personnel will be decided on Saturday when he and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar swap roles for the second half of the Government’s term.
Speaking as he arrived in Government Buildings for his final Cabinet meeting as Taoiseach, Mr Martin said the roles in the reshuffled Government would be announced on Saturday, following a meeting of the three party leaders on Friday night.
With at least two new minister of state positions being created – one to take responsibility for integration in Green Minister Roderic O’Gorman’s department – there will be some scope for manoeuvre. As of now, it is not expected there will be any changes in the Green Party ranks, and minimal changes at senior Minister ranks in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
The reshuffle will be to accommodate Mr Martin transferring to a new department, widely believed to be Foreign Affairs, as well as the change between Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath in Finance, and Public Expenditure and Reform. There is speculation that Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney would move to the Department of Enterprise.
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There will be more changes in the junior ministerial personnel. With a Fine Gael taoiseach, Fianna Fáil Jack Chambers will no longer be Government Chief Whip but he is expected to be given a similar ‘super-junior’ role elsewhere, possibly in the Department of Transport. A super-junior role allows the Minister to attend Cabinet meetings but without having a vote for Government decisions.
Fine Gael’s ‘super junior’ minister is Hildegarde Naughton, who has responsibility for sustainable transport. If she it to retain her entitlement to sit at Cabinet, the Galway West TD will need to become Government Chief Whip. If she is moved elsewhere, or retains her current responsibility, she will have to cede her ‘super junior’ status, unless a new super junior position is being created, bringing the total to four – the Green Party’s Pippa Hackett is a ‘super junior’ in the Department of Agriculture with responsibility for, mainly, forestry policy.
Government sources confirmed on Tuesday there will be at least two new junior ministers, bringing the total number to 22. However, there has been suggestions that if two of the three parties get an additional junior Minister, the third party may be allowed to create a second ‘super-junior’ role.
Brendan Griffin, the Kerry Fine Gael TD, has been the deputy whip but does not have ministerial status and has been widely tipped for promotion, along with Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill.
A source said that all the parties will have to be conscious of not affecting the gender balance when the leaders decide on changes at the weekend.
