First trip abroad for new Taoiseach
Enda Kenny faces his first international engagement as Taoiseach today when he meets with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels.
The two leaders will discuss the key summits of the European Council and the Eurozone Heads of state due for tomorrow.
The European Council meeting will consider the situation in Libya and the surrounding areas, while the Eurozone gathering will focus on economic co-ordination and related issues in the euro area.
Mr Kenny is expected to brief Mr Barroso on his new administration’s priorities in office after he was formally appointed as Taoiseach yesterday.
The coalition Government of Fine Gael and Labour has agreed to push for better repayment terms for last December’s €85bn EU/IMF rescue package.
The Taoiseach unveiled his Cabinet in the Dáil with a number of new portfolios and the amalgamation of other ministries.
The new team held its first meeting last night and agreed to cut the pay of senior politicians, with the Taoiseach’s salary reduced from €214,187 to €200,000.
The Tánaiste's pay will fall from €197,486 to €184,405, while ministers will see their income drop to €169,275.
Unveiling his Cabinet, Mr Kenny revealed Labour’s Brendan Howlin will take on the newly-created role of Public Expenditure and Reform Minister.
Mr Howlin, a veteran parliamentarian with past ministerial experience, will be charged with inflicting crushing austerity measures and axing 25,000 public jobs over the next two years.
The post was created with the splitting of the finance portfolio into two, with Fine Gael’s Michael Noonan taking on the mantle of Finance Minister, with responsibility for budgets and taxes.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore becomes Tánaiste and was handed the new beefed-up Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio.
His party’s Deputy Leader and Finance Spokeswoman Joan Burton – an outspoken critic of the previous Fianna Fáil/Green administration’s economic direction - was widely tipped to take the Public Expenditure and Reform post.
But instead she has been appointed to what some will see as a lower ranking Cabinet position as Social Protection Minister.
The Defence portfolio has also been merged with Justice and Equality, while Transport will be joined with Tourism and Sport.
Mr Kenny was formally appointed Taoiseach after being elected in the Dáil by 117 votes to 27, with his wife Fionnuala and three children looking on.
