Fine Gael cabinet reshuffle
Following Paschal Donohoe’s departure from politics to take a new job at the World Bank, Tánaiste Simon Harris TD made the surprising decision to appoint himself as the new Minister for Finance, while there were two other appointments among the Fine Gael ministerial team.
The Fine Gael leader will now occupy the second most powerful position in government after the Taoiseach, as he becomes the first Tánaiste to also hold the office of Minister for Finance since Brian Cowen in 2008. Harris will now be responsible for all financial matters in the State including the delivery of the annual budget, although he will not have to do so until October 2026.
The Tánaiste has previous experience at the Department of Finance from when he was a Minister of State with a responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Public Procurement and International Banking for two years, although he last held this post in 2016. This experience, however, pales in comparison to the departing Donohoe, who has previously been Minster for Finance on two separate occasions, where he delivered seven budgets. In this time, Donohoe gained a strong reputation in the financial world, evidenced by his five year-tenure as President of the Eurogroup from 2020 until his resignation from government.
The move by the Fine Gael leader meant that there were vacancies at his previous roles as Minister for Defence and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. These positions will both be filled by Fine Gael deputy leader Helen McEntee TD as she becomes the fourth consecutive minister to oversee both roles and is the first woman to hold either.
This is McEntee’s third senior ministerial position following a five-year period as Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration which ended in January 2025. Since then, she served as Minister for Education and Youth, until this reshuffle. The move by Harris to appoint his long-time rival to these positions may be met with some surprise, in the same way that his decision to keep McEntee on as Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration after he became Fine Gael leader in March 2024 was.
Following her appointment, McEntee told RTÉ that she is “committed to passing” the Occupied Territories Bill and said, “it is one of the first things I will be speaking to the Department about”.
The role of replacing McEntee is being undertaken by first-time Cabinet minister Hildegarde Naughton TD, although she has attended cabinet as a Minister of State since 2020 and was Chief Whip from 2022 to 2025. Naughton has worked in a series of departments including Health, Transport, and most recently at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, where she had a responsibility for Disability.
Emer Higgins TD has replaced Naughton as the Minister of State with responsibility for Disability and will now attend government meetings. She had previously served as a Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation with a responsibility for Public Procurement, Digitalisation and eGovernment, although this will be her first time attending cabinet.
In a speech to the Dáil announcing the reshuffle, Harris insisted that this move will not result in any stagnation and said: “There will be no pause in the momentum we must demonstrate in the business of government. There is always more to do.”
