New agriculture minister appointed

The Government has appointed a new junior agriculture minister to fill the position left vacant by the late Shane McEntee.

It is understood Fine Gael TD Tom Hayes was named the new Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

An announcement is expected later today following the weekly Cabinet meeting of Government ministers.

Fine Gael TD Andrew Doyle used Twitter to deliver a message of congratulations to the Tipperary TD.

Congratulations to my colleague Tom Hayes on becoming the new Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine #dail

— Andrew Doyle (@AndrewTDoyle) June 5, 2013

The junior minister position was left vacant for almost six months after the death of Mr McEntee just before Christmas.

A by-election was held in his constituency of Meath East in March to fill his Dail seat, which was won by his daughter Helen McEntee.