Varadkar is likely to reshuffle the Cabinet when he resumes taoiseach's office

With a key minister on leave, and several TDs 'knocking at the door' for promotion, Fine Gael leader has a lot of juggling to do

A key point the Fine Gael leader has to consider is that Helen McEntee, above, will be on maternity leave when the transition is scheduled to happen. Picture: Sasko Lazarov

Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar is likely to avoid spilling any blood in his reshuffle later this year, but will seek to move people to different portfolios, senior Government sources have said.

With Mr Varadkar due to retake the taoiseach’s office on December 15, both he and current Taoiseach Micheál Martin have said there will be a reshuffle of ministers as part of the handover.

The extent and shape of the reshuffle will largely be determined by what portfolio the leaders agree for Mr Martin to take when he vacates his current office and becomes tánaiste.

The simplest option is that he and Mr Varadkar would do a straight swap and he takes on the enterprise portfolio.

But, having already served in that role, there are fresh suggestions that Mr Martin could take the finance portfolio for 12 months before making room for Michael McGrath, the current public expenditure minister.

Several senior figures have strongly hinted that it is Mr Varadkar’s preference to shuffle people around to different positions as opposed to sacking anyone from the Cabinet.

Some TDs seeking to be appointed to the Cabinet have called for Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, who has been at Cabinet since 2011 — as well as Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who have been there since 2014 — to make way.

Micheál Martin with the ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath and (centre) Finance, Paschal Donohoe. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Relations between Mr Varadkar and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris have been known to be “tense” at times, but it is understood matters have improved considerably in recent months.

There is a growing belief that junior education minister Josepha Madigan has also underperformed in her post since dropping out of cabinet and should be replaced.

Another complication is the expected birth of Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s second child in December, at the same time of the changeover.

It has been stated as a certainty that Ms McEntee will remain a minister but that, while she is on maternity leave, one of her colleagues will have to take on her duties.

It is understood that Mr Varadkar is conscious of the need to freshen up the Cabinet, or at least the Fine Gael aspects of it, but he is also aware that even one removal will be difficult.

This is because a large number of junior ministers and prominent TDs are “knocking at the door”, including Brendan Griffin, Damien English, Peter Burke, and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

Mr Varadkar has seen himself under repeated fire from a group of former ministers such as Michael Ring, Charlie Flanagan, John Paul Phelan, and Paul Kehoe whom he was forced to demote when Fine Gael entered government with Fianna Fáil and the Green Party in 2020.