A GP from Co Roscommon, whose father was a former Fianna Fáil Dáil deputy, has been appointed as the Minister for Health in Wales.
Born in Keadue, Co Roscommon , Dr Brian Gibbons was given charge of the health portfolio by Welsh First Minister, Mr Rhodri Morgan, on Monday.
Dr Gibbons is the son of the former Fianna Fáil TD for Roscommon, Dr Hugh Gibbons.
A graduate of University College Galway, Dr Gibbons moved to Yorkshire to train as a general practitioner in 1976. In 1980 he moved to Wales and worked in a practice in Blaengwynfi.
A member of the Labour Party in Wales for many years, he was elected to the National Assembly for Wales on its establishment in 1999.
He was appointed as deputy Minister for Health and Social Services in October 2000 and after the elections in 2003 became deputy Minister for Economic Development and Transport.
Dr Gibbons told The Irish Times last night that in his new portfolio he will be responsible for 99 per cent of health and social services in Wales.
He said that his priorities as minister would be to implement healthcare reforms, to tackle healthcare inequalities and promote equal access to services. He said he would look forward to meeting his political counterparts in the Department of Health in Ireland as well as members of the Labour Party here.
Dr Gibbons said he would like to hear at first hand about the operation of the smoking ban introduced in Ireland last March. He said the Assembly in Wales had voted in favour of the introduction of such a measure but that it had to await the devolution of powers from Westminster to implement such a policy.
Dr Gibbons said there a was broad political consensus supporting the principle of such a ban in Wales.
