Ireland's EU Commissioner Phil Hogan set for second term in €270k EU role
Ireland’s EU Commissioner Phil Hogan is set to be re-appointed for a second term by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Irish Examiner can reveal.
Mr Hogan has made it known that he is keen on a chance to continue to serve, and Mr Varadkar is happy for him to do so.
No official comment was forthcoming from the Government when contacted by the Irish Examiner and a formal decision is not expected until later in the summer once the local and European elections have concluded.
However, it has been established that Mr Hogan is be allowed to continue to serve until 2024 on a yearly salary of €270,000 plus generous pension entitlements.
Mr Varadkar is known to have relied on Mr Hogan’s experience as a source of support in the run up to the Fine Gael leadership contest in 2017 and has spoken positively about him recently.
Mr Hogan has indicated that he is open to serving a second five-year term. The former minister said he would be “positively disposed” to staying in the European Commission.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris and Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy are expected to be moved from their current portfolios in Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s reshuffle.
The two rookie ministers have been the focus of significant opposition criticism and Mr Varadkar looks set to take them out of the firing line ahead of an expected general election.
Senior Government sources have indicated that any reshuffle will be “modest at best” and will see a reordering of responsibilities as opposed to people being sacked.
Mr Harris is two-and-a-half years in Health and has endured a torrid time given the cost escalations at the National Children’s Hospital and his handling of the ongoing CervicalCheck scandal.
Cabinet ministers, speaking to the Irish Examiner, have said Mr Harris has “made noises” about getting out of Health and sources close to the minister have suggested he is preparing for a change of job.
Mr Murphy, who has been the subject of intense criticism as housing minister, is keen to remain on in his job but there is strong talk he will be moved elsewhere.
However, the Taoiseach is expected to demote at least one minister and it is understood that super junior minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor could make way from Cabinet for junior finance minister Michael Darcy, who is known to be close to Mr Varadkar.
Mr Varadkar said at Christmas he would follow the example of his predecessor, Enda Kenny, who performed a reshuffle in 2014 after the mid-term elections. While he later appeared to walk back from that promise, the idea of reshuffling has again emerged with the May 24 elections looming.
