‘Guarantee our jobs!’ Anger as Martin reveals O’Brien will keep housing role

TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has managed to infuriate his own ministers and Fine Gael colleagues after he announced Darragh O’Brien will keep the housing portfolio after the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle.

There was an understanding between the Coalition parties that appointments would not be announced until the day of the reshuffle on December 15.

But Mr Martin instead told a press conference at the

Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis yesterday that Mr O’Brien would remain in his job when asked about discouraging housing data.

One Fine Gael minister told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘After the row over [Public Expenditure Minister] Michael McGrath and [Finance Minister] Paschal Donohoe swapping jobs there was an agreement that all other announcements would be left until December. It puts the other two leaders under pressure to start reassuring their ministers about their jobs. Maybe Micheál got a bit frustrated at criticisms of Darragh but it looks like an amateur error to me. And that’s being kind; perhaps he was doing it intentionally, and that puts us all under pressure. I would love my party leader to come out tomorrow and publicly guarantee me my job.’

At the Ard Fheis, the Taoiseach declined the opportunity to extend the O’Brien guarantee to any other Cabinet minister. He also justified the declaration on the basis that it had been made within the ‘context’ of a particular question.

Mr Martin confirmed the he had not discussed the matter with the Tánaiste, saying, ‘Up to now we have been focusing on the Budget’.

Mr Martin said the ‘broader situation’ in terms of key positions would be discussed at the end of the year.

A Fianna Fáil source told the MoS: ‘What is so special about

O’Brien? How are his other ministers feeling?’