Naughton and Burke tipped for promotion in Simon Harris's new Cabinet 

Sources say geography and gender will be major considerations in new appointments

Simon Harris will be elected Taoiseach by the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon after Leo Varadkar officially resigns. He will then name his cabinet after 5pm.

Government chief whip Hildegarde Naughton and junior minister Peter Burke are being tipped for promotion when Simon Harris announces his  Cabinet on Tuesday.

Mr Harris will be elected Taoiseach by the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon after Leo Varadkar officially resigns. He will then name his cabinet after 5pm. 

With both Mr Varadkar's and Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney's positions to be vacant, Mr Harris will name replacements from the Fine Gael end of the coalition, with sources saying geography and gender will be major considerations.

Junior ministers Mr Burke, Neale Richmond, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Patrick O'Donovan and Ms Naughton — who sits at Cabinet — are seen as each having a chance to replace the outgoing Fine Gael veterans. 

Among Fine Gael sources on Monday, the view is that a promotion for Ms Naughton to the Further Education portfolio, vacated by Mr Harris, is possible, while Mr Burke is seen as "extremely likely" to get the nod to join the cabinet, though where remains uncertain.

Cork North Central TD Colm Burke is tipped for a junior ministry. Picture: Dan Linehan

Much will depend on the future of Justice Minister Helen McEntee and whether Mr Harris keeps her in place. While he has signalled his confidence in Ms McEntee, there is some speculation she could be moved to Enterprise, with Heather Humphreys moving to Justice and Mr Burke taking on the Social Protection brief. 

One source said moving Ms McEntee would look like "a panic move" for Mr Harris on his first day in charge.

Sources said in this scenario, Ms Carroll MacNeill would become Government Chief Whip and retain her junior finance ministry.

At junior level, Mr Harris would then have three roles to fill — Public Health, Special Education and European Affairs. 

These would be filled by three of the party's newest TDs, according to a number of Fine Gael sources. 

Parliamentary party chair Alan Dillon, Dublin Mid-West TD Emer Higgins and Cork North Central's Colm Burke are the names in contention, with the possibility Mr Richmond is moved to European Affairs given his work on Brexit.

The resignation of Mr Coveney means Fine Gael is weakened in Munster, with Mr O'Donovan considered a possibility to be named to cabinet, though there is some suggestion Mr Burke could be given the junior health role to shore up the geographical representation.

One TD who has not been named in ongoing speculation is Alan Farrell, who was first elected to the Dáil in 2011.

The Fingal TD has never served as a minister and some party sources are indicating that he could step down if not added to the junior benches tomorrow.

Some in Fine Gael noted that there are issues with both gender and geography potentially blocking his appointment, as he is a Dublin-based TD.