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MICHEÁL MARTIN WILL travel to Áras an Uachtaráin this morning to submit his resignation as Taoiseach to President Michael D Higgins.
Later today, Leo Varadkar will take over the role of Taoiseach for the final two years of the coalition Government.
A rotation of the role of Taoiseach has never happened before in Irish politics, however it was agreed in the programme for Government in 2020 that Martin and Varadkar would switch half way through the term.
Once Martin has paid a visit to President Higgins this morning at around 9.30am, Dáil proceedings are expected to begin at 10.30am when Martin will announce that he has submitted his resignation.
A number of proposals for Taoiseach will be made, including the nomination of Leo Varadkar.
A vote roll call will be held to determine the next Taoiseach before the Dáil is suspended for four hours.
Sinn Féin will not nominate party leader Mary Lou McDonald for Taoiseach during the proceedings, with a spokesperson for the party telling The Journal that ”nothing will change until we have a change of government” and that a general election is needed.
Weekend working
The Dáil – obviously – does not usually sit on a Saturday, so creche staff for the Oireachtas have been asked to work, with the Dáil bar also set to be open today.
Once elected by Dáil Eireann, the new Taoiseach will be led out the front door of Leinster House where supporters and the media will be gathered, before being driven to Áras an Uachtaráin.
Such scenes have not been seen for some years, as Martin became Taoiseach in 2020 at the height of the pandemic when restrictions around gatherings and social distancing were in place.
The appointment of Varadkar as Taoiseach will take place at 1.30pm in the State Reception Room at Áras an Uachtaráin where the President will sign the Warrant of Appointment and hand the Seal of the Taoiseach and the Seal of Government to Varadkar.
As in previous years, it’s expected there’ll be much fanfare with as the Taoiseach’s and other politicians’ family members gather in Leinster House to mark the day.
Later on, Varadkar will call in members of his new Cabinet to tell them what ministerial brief they will be in charge of. The Dáil will sign off on the ministers before proceedings end in Leinster House after 7pm.
The appointment of the new Cabinet will then take place in State Reception Room at Áras an Uachtaráin.
The President will sign the Warrant of Appointment for the Members of the Government and the Warrant of Appointment of the new Attorney General, each of which will be countersigned by the Taoiseach.
The President will then present each minister in turn with their Seal of Office.
Government sources have said all leaders want “a stable transition”, with no hiccups, but one never knows how things will play out when each minister is called in.
Varadkar told Fine Gael politicians this week that he will be seeking commitments from those he appoints as ministers that they will run in the next general election.
He said the decisions he will have to make are very difficult, but he told members that he would endeavour to make sure there is a meaningful role for all.
The speculation is there will be no major shake up around the Cabinet table and that the role of junior ministers is where the biggest changes will be seen.
There had also been talk of additional super-junior ministers, but sources state that the Government would be “roasted” by the public if new roles were to be created.
Along with Martin and Varadkar switching seats, the roles at the Departments of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will also swap between Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath.
The Green Party have indicated they are happy to keep their current briefs with Green Party ministers Eamon Ryan, Catherine Martin and Roderic O’Gorman all likely to remain in their departments.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is one of the few ministers who has been told he will be remaining in position after the reshuffle.
Micheál Martin has been keeping tightlipped on where he might want to move, and talks between the three coalition leaders on the make-up of the reshuffled ministerial lineup were taking place yesterday evening.
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Finally the supporting evidence for a new skanger tax.
@Tweed Cap: stupid stats based on personal opinions..peoples idea of healthy/unhealthy is very subjective.
@Tweed Cap: ha ha I thought Skanger tax went out with the Greyhound skirt……!!
@Tweed Cap: to be fair, not often you see a thin skagner
@MaryLoonyMcDonald: Since Ireland has no doctors, you can’t really have stats based on anything else than personal opinions.
@Eamo Hansen: Pop down to the board walk and have a butchers, you will see plenty skin and bones along there.
I don’t think it’s correct to say that Dublin is home to the people with the worst health, it is home to the people who THINK they have the worst health. It was a very subjective question.
Breaking news Dublin has the highest percentage of people in Ireland
@Conor O’Regan: Breaking news: Commenter doesn’t understand percentages
Breaking news: original commenter is perfectly correct in saying that dublin has the highest percentage of people in Ireland making replying commenter understanding of percentages unsure
Breaking news: Supplies of unbroken news running dangerously low.
@Conor O’Regan: Id ask the Dublin City Council to see If they could come up with some initiatives or ideas to try help but they are busy with motions on whose flag we should fly on City Hall in support of problems in other cities in the world so best leave them alone. ….Maybe try the HSE they seem like an organised bunch…..
I know someone who brings in Christmas cake for lunch in the new year. He eats it in between 2 cuts of bread….. He is from Dublin!
@Alan O’Rourke: I know someone who makes irrelevant comments about co-workers eating Christmas Cake just after Christmas.
@Alan O’Rourke: A cake sandwich? Jaysus I heard it all now.
@Bat Daly: if only your powers of deduction matched your moodiness! I don’t work with them at all! Muhahahaha
@Alan O’Rourke: I know a few that eat Xmas pudding on bread. Vile.
Walk down Talbot Street and you will believe it.
@John O’Neill: you would think most of them would be fit and healthy what with all the tracksuits they wear.
Monster Munch and Spice Bags : Dublin Cuisine
@TonyF: Along with your grammar! worst…..w o r s t.
Maybe you should change the headline to say ‘the highest proportion’??
Surely health should include your mental health as that very important in deciding your overall health so how could the many people stressed out with insane rents and no security of tenure be in good or very good health nevermind even fair health with the stress that causes.
@Jay Lane: Spot on. These are Government survey figures that were created by the government, and I’d say that they’re either a very, very reserved and tweaked and re-tweaked calculation, or they were performed while the subjects were highly intoxicated. There’s way too much damage and hurt out there, much more than you can imagine.
@Jay Lane: Not that many people are really stressing about it. As a portion of the population not that many are really renting and then only a portion of that are struggling. Don’t let the headlines fool you. Dublin also has a big concentration of wealth so many don’t have financial worries.
Living in a remote area of a dwindling population with no social outlet is probably more of a problem. Pretty sure that is backed up by suicide figures too.
@Jay Lane: Bravo, well said ! Students in particular, live in hovels and pay enormous rents whilst having the worry of exams. It is nigh impossible for people to buy a home in Dublin, people who are from Dublin, and want to stay here.
13.5% of the country have a disability?? That’s more than one in eight of us, this is quite alarming to me. No wonder the health service costs the state so much with the amount of people obviously claiming disability for one thing or other on top of the layers of middle and upper management pushing and stamping paper from one desk to another.
@Derek: The DSP take years to finalise any disabiity payment & you of course everyone has to prove their disability by many doctors & DSP inspectors. The DSP even send letters out every year asking people if their leg has grown back and if their son/daughter still has Down Syndrome. This is the indignity of the DSP system & with a medical card they can only join the 700,000 other citizens waiting and even dying in agony on the waiting listso including many vulnerable children and elderly people who have to beg their dignity away on liveline etc to try get their vital operations. Disabilities also cost far more than pittance sub sistance the government gives especially electricity and heating costs, with the government increasing the Green Party’s tree hugging PSO levi last month,months before their measly increase & so the government will rob the increase well before Christmas never mind the end of march when the measly increase is due,nearly 3 months after every employee gets their increase on New years day.
What else would you expect when it’s the local Chipper that’s used to feed the family on a daily basis.
Sure isn’t Dublin stuffed solid with Culchies, revving up their shiny new cars and polluting the population in Dublin, especially around Sandyford where the likes of me, a Dub, has to live and breathe. Asthma, Bronchitis, cardiovascular ailments are rampant on busy roads, so will yiz all go home and get back to organic farming or take early retirement from the Civil Service. If Dublin is such a sh-t hole, go home. laugh.
@Rosemarie Martin: it’s not shiny cars I said you should be fretting about Rosie
Well we’ve always carried more weight in Ireland. Hooray for the tubby-dubs.
@O Swetenham: up the flats
There is a huge obesity problem in Ireland in general. It is absolutely shocking walking around Dublin city centre and see the amount of overweight people. Our health services is already on its knees, it will be on the floor within a decade with all the obese related illness piling up.
People who think they’re unhealthy. Maybe the rest of the country is just deluded.
Such a high percentage of people class themselves healthy yet there is such a high percentage of overweight & obese people. Lots are living in denial or lots dont really understand what proper health actually feels like perhaps..
Given the staggering levels of overweight and obesity in Ireland it’s clear many people are in denial about their state of health.
Typical Jackeens. You just can’t teach some people.
Work hard, play hard.
@Diar O Doc: Drink hard, eat hard…
The census question actually referred to significant visual impairment.including both mild and severe, research estimates 225,000.
Check out @FitFlick… new social fitness app coming to Dublin soon. Founded by two DCU graduates.
The situation will get worse when those “surplus” parks get built on.
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