Irish veterinary surgeon, Patricia Reilly, has joined president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen's cabinet as agriculture and health advisor.

The Cavan native and University College Dublin (UCD) graduate has extensive history in policy advisory roles, having held the head of cabinet for European Commissioner Mairéad McGuinness, commissioner for financial services, financial stability and capital markets union, from September 2022 to November 2024.

She was also the deputy chief veterinary officer at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) from November 2021 to September 2022.

During this tenure, she led five departmental policy divisions on areas including food safety and food authenticity, veterinary medicines and residues, antimicrobial resistance, animal health and welfare, TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) and animal by-products.

Reilly also led the National TB Forum and the National Calf Stakeholder Group and was responsible for launching Ireland's first stand-alone animal welfare strategy.

She began her European Commission career in the cabinet of Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn in research, innovation and science and later as deputy head of cabinet for Commissioner Tibor Navracsics in education, culture, youth, sport and the Joint Research Centre (JRC).

Reilly was also Ireland's first agricultural attaché in central and eastern Europe, working in the Polish Embassy from 2004 to 2008.

Following her graduation from UCD in 1996, the scholar went on to gain a masters degree in european food law from Ulster University, two diplomas in law, one of which was from King's Inn and a masters in public administration and governance.

She remains a member of the UCD Veterinary School External Advisory Committee and the Royal Irish Academy's Life and Health Sciences Committee.

Reilly was officiated as a member of the cabinet on Monday, March 3, where her new advisory portfolio includes the following remit:

Agriculture;
Health and food safety;
Animal welfare;
Equality;
Tourism;
Project Group Vision for Agriculture and Food.