Ministers ‘not affected by reshuffle speculation’

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday rejected suggestions that continuous speculation over his Cabinet reshuffle had created instability within his Government.

In confirming publicly for the first time that he will announce his new ministerial team on September 29, the day the Dáil returns after the summer break, Mr Ahern also clearly accepted that the Government was conscious of some shortcomings and conceded that “some sections of the electorate are not doing as well as others”.

Mr Ahern, speaking to reporters in the wake of the first Cabinet meeting after the summer break, made an implicit criticism of the lack of headway in improving health services when identifying some of the areas that the Government needed to improve on.