The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan announced yesterday that he will be stepping down from his role as soon as a new Taoieach is in place.
 
Noonan has also stated that he will not be running for election again, thus ending a 36-year career in the Dail. When he became Finance Minister in 2011, Ireland had just signed up to its Memorandum of Understanding with the Troika of the IMF, EU and ECB.
 
Goodbody Stockbrokers believe Minister Noonan will always be remembered as the Minister who took over in the teeth of Ireland's sovereign crisis, yet managed to steer the country back from the brink and finish his stint as Minister with Ireland being the fastest growing euro area economy. 
 
According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "In recent years, the fruits of the efforts made during the crisis have been visible, with significant progress made on returning the public finances to stability and Ireland being at the top of the league tables. His successor will be faced with a whole different set of challenges, but are hardly as daunting as those that Minister Noonan was able to navigate. History will treat his stint in charge kindly."

Source: www.businessworld.ie