After the promotion of Jack Chambers to the position of Minister for Finance, Dara Calleary, a Fianna Fáil Minister of State, has been appointed as the new super junior member at the Cabinet. Following the placement of Michael McGrath as the upcoming EU Commissioner for Ireland, Jack Chambers assumed the Finance Minister role this week. Dara Calleary will continue to maintain his role as the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise.
The shift of Chambers to the Department of Finance effectively left his previous position in the Department of Transport open, which will now be served by James Lawless, Kildare North TD.
Being appointed as chief whip at the creation of the Government in July 2020, Calleary ascended to the Minister for Agriculture position shortly afterwards when Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach, fired Barry Cowen. However, controversy over his presence at the Oireachtas Golf Society Dinner during Covid restrictions led to Calleary’s resignation within a few weeks.
Calleary returned to the backbenches for the summer of 2022 until he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise due to Robert Troy’s resignation. He is a Fianna Fáil party loyalist from a family with a long history in the party, and has served as a TD since 2007. His grandfather Phelim Calleary and father Seán Calleary were TDs for Mayo North and Mayo East, respectively.
James Lawless was first elected for Fianna Fáil representing Kildare North in the general election of 2016 after serving as a councillor for two years. He has qualifications in law from Kings Inns, as well as maths and computer science degrees from TCD. Before venturing into politics, Lawless was employed as a systems analyst. Following his re-election in 2020, he has been leading the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice.