Leo Varadkar was appointed as Ireland’s Taoiseach yesterday. In his inaugural speech to the Dáil, Varadkar promised that his government would be one of the “new European centre”, thus firmly positioning Ireland’s future as part of the EU.
Taoiseach Varadkar also announced his cabinet reshuffle yesterday. Pascal Donoghue will take over the role as Minister for Finance, taking the place of Michael Noonan, who has stepped down. Minister Donoghue will now take on dual responsibility for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, having previously been responsible for just the latter.
Minister Coveney will move from Housing to Foreign Affairs and thus be responsible for Brexit negotiations. He will be replaced in Housing by Minister Eoghan Murphy, who gets a promotion to full Ministerial level for the first time. He will now initiate a review of the Action Plan for Housing.
Given the timing of the review, Goodbody Stockbrokers expect further measures to be announced in the coming months, possibly in the Budget in October.
According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "From a policy standpoint, we do not expect any radical departure under the new Taoiseach, with the arithmetic of the current Dáil making it very difficult to enact policy in any case. However, it is the four men mentioned above that will play the most important role in shaping the approach to the key issues of Brexit and housing over the coming period."
Source: www.businessworld.ie