I wish to announce formally for the information of the Dáil that, having informed the President that Dáil Éireann had approved my nomination of Deputies Jan O’Sullivan, Alan Kelly, Alex White, Paschal Donohoe and Heather Humphreys to be members of the Government, the President, on 11 July 2014, appointed them accordingly, and subsequently, on 11 July, I assigned the Department of Defence to Deputy Simon Coveney, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to Deputy James Reilly, the Department of Health to Deputy Leo Varadkar, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Deputy Charlie Flanagan, the Department of Education and Skills to Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to Deputy Alan Kelly, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to Deputy Alex White, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to Deputy Heather Humphreys.
On 11 July, the Government appointed Deputy Gerald Nash as Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with special responsibility for business and employment, and Deputy Jimmy Deenihan as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for the Irish diaspora.
I accepted the resignation of Deputies Dinny McGinley, John Perry, Fergus O’Dowd, Ciarán Cannon and Joe Costello as Ministers of State on 15 July, and the Government today appointed Deputy Kathleen Lynch as Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for primary care, mental health and disability, Deputy Sean Sherlock as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for overseas development aid, trade promotion and North-South co-operation, Deputy Damien English as Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with special responsibility for skills, research and innovation, Deputy Joe McHugh as Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with special responsibility for Gaeltacht affairs and natural resources, Deputy Paudie Coffey as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with special responsibility for housing, planning and co-ordination of the Construction 2020 strategy, Deputy Simon Harris as Minister of State at the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, public procurement and international banking, including the IFSC clearing house group, Deputy Kevin Humphreys as Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection with special responsibility for employment, community and social support, Deputy Dara Murphy as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for European affairs and data protection, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin as Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with special responsibility for communities, culture and equality, and Deputy Ann Phelan as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport with special responsibility for rural economic development - implementation of the CEDRA report - and rural transport. Deputies Paul Kehoe, Michael Ring and Tom Hayes will remain in their current Minister of State posts.