I wish to announce, for the information of the Dáil,
(1) that, having informed the President that Dáil Éireann had approved my nomination of Deputies to be members of the Government, the President, on 26 June 1997, appointed them accordingly;
(2) that, on the same date, I nominated Deputy Harney to be the Tánaiste and assigned the Department of Enterprise and Employment to her;
(3) that, on the same date, I assigned the Departments of State to the other members of the Government as follows: the Department of the Marine, Deputy Woods; the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Raphael Burke; the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, Deputy O'Rourke; the Department of Defence, Deputy Andrews; the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Deputy Walsh; the Department of Finance, Deputy McCreevy; the Department of Health, Deputy Cowen; the Department of the Environment, Deputy Dempsey; the Department of Social Welfare, Deputy Dermot Ahern; the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Deputy de Valera; the Department of Justice and the Department of Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue; the Department of Tourism and Trade, Deputy McDaid; the Department of Education, Deputy Martin;
(4) that, on 26 June 1997, the President, appointed Mr. David Byrne, SC, as Attorney General;
(5) that, on the same date, the Government appointed Deputy Séamus Brennan to be Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip, and Minister of State at the Department of Defence; and Deputy Molloy to be Minister of State to the Government and at the Department of the Environment, with special responsibility for housing and urban renewal;
(6) that, on 1 July 1997, the Government appointed Deputy Michael Smith to be Minister of State at the Department of Education and at the Department of Enterprise and Employment, with special responsibility for science and technology, and Deputy O'Donnell to be Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, with special responsibility for overseas development assistance and human rights; and
(7) that on 8 July 1997, the Government appointed Deputy Davern to be Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, with special responsibility for livestock breeding and horticulture; Deputy Jacob to be Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications, with special responsibility for energy; Deputy Fahey to be Minister of State at the Department of Health, with special responsibility for children; Deputy O'Dea to be Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for adult education, youth affairs and school transport; Deputy Tom Kitt to be Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment with special responsibility for labour affairs, consumer rights and international trade; Deputy Flood to be Minister of State at the Department of Tourism and Trade with special responsibility for local development — he will also be responsible for the National Drugs Strategy Team; Deputy Dan Wallace to be Minister of State at the Department of the Environment with special responsibility for environmental information and awareness and the Environmental Protection Agency; Deputy Ned O'Keeffe to be Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry with special responsibility for food; Deputy Byrne to be Minister of State at the Department of the Marine to have special responsibility for aquaculture and forestry; Deputy Mary Wallace to be Minister of State at the Department of Justice and at the Department of Equality and Law Reform with special responsibility for equality and disabilities; Deputy Cullen to be Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works; Deputy Ó Cuív to be Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht with special responsibility for the Gaeltacht and the islands and Deputy Moffatt to be Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for food safety and older people.
