TÁNAISTE AND Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan says she wants to be reappointed to both of her jobs when Taoiseach Brian Cowen reshuffles the Cabinet.
Ms Coughlan said Mr Cowen had discussed the looming reorganisation of Government portfolios with her, but said it was not her intention to disclose what they had discussed.
“I meet him every week to talk about all sorts of things . . . and we do talk about these issues,” she told reporters in Brussels.
She said she would like to stay on as Tánaiste and retain her current portfolio when the Taoiseach reassigns ministerial posts.
of work underway]\. So I clearly would like to continue that. But I certainly am not going to share with you my discussions with the boss man.”
Ms Coughlan added thatsaid these were questions for Mr Cowen alone to decide.
“I like the job I do, and as I said I have served in a number of ministries, and it’s always been a matter for whoever the taoiseach was to determine,” she said.
“The Taoiseach’s prerogative to determine who his Ministers and Ministers of State will be, and what way he configures his Government and departments. That will be clearly a matter for himself.”
She would not be drawn on the likely outcome of the process.
“I clearly have no expectation at all, none, nobody has,” she said.
“Everybody in a reshuffle, and I have to speak of all of my colleagues, have done their absolute utmost and continue to do their utmost in very difficult circumstances.
“And everybody has given it all around that table. The reason for the reshuffle has arisen from, I suppose, unexpected circumstances.”
Ms Coughlan was speaking last evening on the fringes of a meeting of EU competitiveness ministers.
Asked about demands in the small business sector for an increase in bank lending to help sustain employment, she said that the Government was considering the adoption of target levels for commercial lending as a condition of any further bank recapitalisations.
On the Europe 2020 medium-term economic strategy, details of which will be published tomorrow by the European Commission, she said the union must learn from the flaws in the previous plan.
While Ms Coughlan said she was not in favour of binding targets in the new plan, she said targets must be appropriate to the circumstances of individual member states.
“The strategy must . . . be more transparent and clearly defined, with a monitoring and reporting system that provides clear results with positive outcomes for society and the economy and, in particular, sustainable employment.”