It will be ‘as you were’ at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) following the appointment of new ministers of state, or junior ministers, today (Wednesday, April 10).
New Taoiseach Simon Harris has appointed a number of government party TDs to junior minister roles today, but DAFM is unaffected.
Therefore, the current ministerial team at the department will continue to be composed of ministers of state Martin Heydon (Fine Gael) and Pippa Hackett (Green Party), alongside Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue (Fianna Fáil).
While Minister Hackett’s position was confirmed yesterday (Tuesday, April 9) – as her role as a ‘super junior minister’ allows her to sit in cabinet with senior ministers who lead departments – Minister Heydon had to wait until today to know for certain he was staying put.
Commenting on his confirmation in his current role with responsibility for new market development, farm safety and research and development, Minister Heydon said: “Farmers are under significant pressure at present due to the weather and my immediate focus will be supporting them through this period.
“Farmers get up every morning, hail, rain, or shine, to produce the top-quality food that Ireland is renowned for. They care for their animals, they care for the land, and they care for the environment around them,” Minister Heydon added.
“At the end of the day what they want in return for those efforts is a fair price and a reasonable standard of living for them and their family,” he commented.
“I will continue to have special responsibility for farm safety, new market development, and research and innovation. While there has been a reduction in the average number of farm fatalities, every farmer lost is one too many.
“In new market development we have had some recent successes… Ireland is one of the best places in the world to produce food and my focus is on positioning Irish produce in the highest value markets that give the best return to farmers,” Minister Heydon said.
The appointment of new ministers of state to certain government departments comes after Simon Harris was officially elected as the youngest Taoiseach yesterday following a Dáil vote.
He then travelled to Áras an Uachtaráin to be officially appointed by President Michael D. Higgins.
Harris was elected 88 votes to 69, after the sudden resignation of Leo Varadkar three weeks ago. He became Ireland’s fifteenth Taoiseach, at the age of 37.
Speaking at the 82nd Fine Gael Ard Fheis at the University of Galway, the minister said farmers’ work needs to be “rewarded, respected and valued”.
He said that he wanted farmers to know “Fine Gael will never talk down to you on climate action, but instead sit down and work with and for farmers”.
The Taoiseach said he wanted to engage in a new partnership on agriculture where farmers are central to change.
“For example, I want to implement the agri-environment strategies – such as the Biomethane Strategy – so farmers can earn a good income while protecting our environment,” he said.