Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed that Fianna Fáil will take over the finance ministry from Fine Gael Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe later this year.
Mr Martin said the cohesion of the Government depends on parity of esteem, and as agreed Fianna Fáil will take over the finance portfolio in December when Tánaiste Leo Varadkar is due to be come taoiseach.
When asked what portfolio he will have in the revamped Cabinet, Mr Martin told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that after the budget the three party leaders would discuss such details, his focus for now was the cost-of-living crisis, but he repeated that “parity of esteem” must be maintained.
When the parity of esteem agreement was reached on the formation of the Government “we didn’t get into personalities”, he said when asked if Michael McGrath would be the next minister for finance.
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Under the agreement, if one party has the Taoiseach, the other would have the minister for finance portfolio. “That was clear and understood,” he said.
Speaking later Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the make-up of the next Cabinet after he takes over as taoiseach again in December has not yet been discussed among the leaders of the Government parties.
There are concerns within Fine Gael that Paschal Donohoe’s move out of that role could risk Ireland losing the chair of the influential Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, which Mr Donohoe holds, when he and Mr McGrath, Minister for Public Expenditure, are expected to swap roles in December under the coalition government agreement.
Mr Varadkar told reporters there had been no discussions among the leaders of the Government parties - Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens - “about the shape of the new government” and that this would take place after the budget in November or December.
The Tánaiste said he had served in three coalitions and knew “what makes them work” and “what makes them last,” and that it was “essential” there was “parity of esteem.”
“We don’t want the kind of thing we see happening in Northern Ireland where governments last and they are closed down more often than they are operating. For governments to last, you have to stick by your agreements, good faith, no surprises and parity of esteem,” he said.
Liz Truss
The Taoiseach is travelling to Belfast today for the memorial service to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, which is also being attended by British prime minister Liz Truss. It is not expected that the two leaders will hold talks in Belfast, but it is understood that efforts are under way to set up a meeting next week when the Taoiseach travels to London for the queen’s funeral.
There are hopes that negotiations on the Northern Ireland protocol could be restarted between the EU and the new British government in the coming weeks, though Brussels and Dublin are awaiting any sign of a new approach from the Truss administration.
If there is no resolution that satisfies the DUP and persuades the party to return to the Stormont power-sharing institutions before the end of October, fresh elections in Northern Ireland will be triggered.
It is understood Ms Truss has not yet spoken to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Robert Troy
Speaking from Mullingar where Fianna Fáil was holding a two day think-in, Mr Martin defended his reaction when details emerged about the property interests of former Minister of State Robert Troy in August.
Mr Troy was not alone in his issues with the declaration of interests, a range of public representatives had similar issues, said Mr Martin. What he felt in August was that Mr Troy was entitled to due process.
He was prepared to go into the Dáil to make a comprehensive statement. “It’s not right, he made a very serious error, he was wrong, he apologised. He resigned.” Mr Martin said he had described Mr Troy’s actions as “a serious error”. People were entitled to be given the time to articulate comprehensively what went wrong.
