Five new Ministers have been appointed to the Cabinet and the number of women Ministers has been doubled to four.

The reshuffle unveiled by Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday brought two new Fine Gael Ministers and three new Labour appointments.

Three former Labour Party leaders – Ruairí Quinn, Pat Rabbitte and Eamon Gilmore – have departed the Cabinet, replaced by Jan O’Sullivan at Education; Alex White at Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; and Alan Kelly at Environment.

On the Fine Gael side Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan has left the Cabinet to become Ireland’s new EU Commissioner, while Jimmy Deenihan has moved from Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to become a junior Minister at the Department of the Taoiseach, with responsibility for the diaspora.

The new Fine Gael Ministers are Pascal Donohoe at Tourism and Transport; and Monaghan TD Heather Humphreys, who has taken over at Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The promotion of Ms Humphreys was one of the big surprises of the reshuffle. She and Mr Donohoe were first elected to the Dáil at the last general election.

There were also some surprises in the allocation of new portfolios to existing members of the Cabinet.

Leo Varadkar has been moved from Tourism and Transport to the key Department of Health, which has proved a very difficult portfolio for a succession of Ministers over the past two decades.

Former minister for health and deputy leader of Fine Gael James Reilly has been moved to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

There was considerable surprise at this move, as the previous occupant of the post, Charlie Flanagan, was appointed to the position only in May.

However, Mr Flanagan has been appointed to the prestigious position of Minister for Foreign Affairs, which has long been regarded as one of the most important positions in government.

While the department has ceded responsibility for EU affairs to the Department of the Taoiseach in recent years it is still regarded as one of the senior posts in government.

Social Protection

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin remain in their positions, while Tánaiste Joan Burton has chosen to remain at Social Protection.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has retained his portfolio, which also has responsibility for Food and Marine, but has also been appointed Minister for Defence.

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald will remain in the post to which she was promoted in May following the resignation of Alan Shatter.

Minister for Jobs Richard Burton has retained his position although the Labour affairs element of the Department will be taken over by Louth Labour TD Jed Nash, who has been given a “super junior” role which involves attending cabinet meetings.

It was no surprise that the newly elected Labour Party deputy leader Alan Kelly was promoted to Cabinet. Neither was it a surprise that the Tánaiste promoted her rival for the Labour leadership, Alex White, to the Cabinet.

The promotion of Jan O’Sullivan was a little more unexpected, as Cork TD Kathleen Lynch had been widely tipped for the position of Minister for Education.

Government chief whip Paul Kehoe retained his pivotal position in government.

The appointment of the new team of Ministers of State will be announced next week.