Following Wednesday’s chaos in the Dáil, there was a return to parliamentary order yesterday with the election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach and the approval of his Cabinet. Almost two months after the general election, a new Government is finally in place. As Martin said following his appointment, “the task is to protect Ireland’s strength at a moment of real threat, while also addressing critical social needs” and also accelerating delivery in key areas, particularly housing.
The outgoing administration had a strong record on headline economic measures such as employment and growth. This was undoubtedly important. But its poor record on delivery was underlined on Thursday by Central Statistics Office figures showing 30,300 homes were completed in 2024, almost 10,000 below target and contradicting claims during the general election that the outcome would not be far off 40,000. It may not be a coincidence that the task of boosting output has been removed from Darragh O’Brien and handed to a new face at the Cabinet table, James Browne. But the Government as a whole needs to show a new urgency and a willingness to undertake real reforms.
The reappointment of the two key budget ministers, with Paschal Donohoe returning to the Department of Finance and Jack Chambers moving to the Department of Public Expenditure, does promise some stability in key areas. Donohoe, having correctly brought Ireland into the OECD corporate tax agreement when he was last finance minister, must now deal with the fall-out from Donald Trump’s withdrawal from that deal, along with a string of associated threats.
A huge effort of economic diplomacy will be required, underpinned by a clear strategy. Chambers, meanwhile, needs to find a way of slowing spending growth to more sustainable levels while still delivering social and economic improvements.
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Many – too many – familiar faces remain, albeit in different positions. There are a few new additions, including Jim O’Callaghan in justice and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill in health. Both are ministerial novices with a lot to prove. And as aspiring future leaders of their parties, their performances will be particularly closely watched.
Few ministers in the last government were genuine reformers. It hasn’t held them back; the new Cabinet is filled with individuals with a proven track record of safe managerialism. As so often in politics, many ministers have been appointed not on the basis of ability or record, but due to where they live or how many votes they won.
Martin and Simon Harris, leader of the junior coalition partner, Fine Gael, have between them contrived to reduce the number of women at Cabinet from four to three.
It’s an inauspicious start.
