Simon Harris, the Taoiseach, has defended a decision to appoint Fine Gael’s Chief Whip, Hildegarde Naughton, to increased responsibilities in special education, consequently preventing her from becoming Minister of State for the Gaeltacht. Speculation arose as to why the position reverted to Fianna Fáil in a recent reshuffle.
Emphasising his strong belief in boosting the consideration given to special education, Harris said that Naughton’s new role made perfect sense, despite her potential for the Gaeltacht role. As Chief Whip, she also benefits from a seat at the Cabinet table.
The responsibility for the Gaeltacht has been assigned to Thomas Byrne, Minister of State within the host Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Harris commented on this, saying that it was targeted towards achieving a balanced government workload and serves the country’s interests best.
Sources within the government revealed this week that the reason for transferring the Gaeltacht portfolio to Fianna Fáil was due to Fine Gael’s trouble in finding proficient Irish speakers willing to undertake the position.
Responding to inquiries on why the position was given to Fianna Fáil before their convention, Tánaiste Micheál Martin expressed uncertainty about whether Fine Gael struggled to find a qualified candidate but lauded the decision as reasonable. He expressed his pleasure that Byrne, an accomplished Irish speaker, was appointed to the role and stated his beliefs that Byrne will be an exceptional advocate for both the Irish language and Gaeltacht regions.