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Dillon, Higgins and Burke appointed as junior ministers

The full line-up of Junior Ministers pictured outside Government Buildings today
The full line-up of Junior Ministers pictured outside Government Buildings today

Three junior ministers have been appointed by the Government.

Alan Dillon has been promoted to Junior Minister at the Department of Housing with Kieran O'Donnell moving to the Office of Public Works role.

Emer Higgins is the new Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise as Neale Richmond takes on the role at the Department of Finance.

Cork North Central TD Colm Burke takes on the role of Junior Minister with responsibility for Public Health and Drugs Strategy.

Fianna Fáil Minister of State Thomas Byrne is to take on the Gaeltacht portfolio in addition to his existing Sport role at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The full line-up of Ministers of State will be revealed at Government Buildings after 1pm.

Following his election yesterday, Mr Harris vowed to be a Taoiseach for all.

Reshuffling Fine Gael Cabinet roles, Mr Harris nominated junior minister Peter Burke as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and junior minister Patrick O'Donovan as Minister for Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will serve as Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs, with special responsibility for EU Affairs and as Minister of State at the Department of Defence.


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The Opposition branded the changes superficial and cosmetic and renewed calls for a general election.

Mr Harris told the Dáil yesterday that there is now a team in place in Government with the right mixture of experience and talent to build a new social contract.

'Every family affected by addition'

The new Junior Minister with responsibility for Public Health and Drugs Strategy has said "every family has been affected some way or another as a result of addiction".

Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Colm Burke said "drugs are freely available" in Ireland, adding it is a cross -departmental issue.

He acknowledged that policing the waters to stop smuggling is "a challenge", but added the gardaí had made substantial seizures.

"It's not only about making sure drugs aren't coming in, but also about education and prevention because no matter what you do in relation to trying to prevent drugs being imported, people are going to get access to them," he said.

Mr Burke said "a lot of work" had already been done "getting the message out there about the dangers of even experimenting with drugs".

The minister said he had been told of people "who ended up in psychiatric units" because drugs "have triggered other health problems".

Mr Burke said he not received a "full briefing" yet on the Citizens' Assembly on drugs due to "only being in the position within the last few hours".

"I've a lot of work to do in relation to familiarising myself with all of the issues that the department is facing," he said.

He said that he "would certainly recommend" that the recommendations that outlined by the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs "would be dealt with in the earliest possible date".