Jack Chambers has been formally appointed as Minister for Finance, after having received his seal of office from President Michael D Higgins this evening.
The Dáil had voted to nominate Mr Chambers as minister earlier this evening by a margin of 86 to 60.
Ahead of the vote, Taoiseach Simon Harris paid tribute to Michael McGrath's performance in Government as he brought the appointment of Mr Chambers as Mr McGrath's successor at the Department of Finance before the Dáil.
Mr McGrath has "skillfully found compromises in a three-party coalition to the most challenging of circumstances," he said.
"It's imperative that we all work together to support you and Ireland securing an important, influential and impactful portfolio."
He also thanked outgoing commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
Mr Harris said he looks forward to working closely with Mr Chambers "over the coming months as we prepare an important budget, the final budget of the government's mandate.
"Together we must work to protect the economic gains that this country has earned."
He expressed his pride at "the shared partnership which has been built by the three parties and Coalition since 2020".
Tánaiste Micheál Martin also praised Mr McGrath's record, noting he "faced an enormous challenge finding ways to fund urgent and unprecedented expansions and public supports at a time of collapsed world trade and economic activity".
"The creation of unprecedented reserve funds will ensure that Ireland is in the position to respond to major disruptions," he said.
Mr Martin said that Jack Chambers "is a constructive and focused contributor to deliberations", and "not someone who looks for problems to exploit or to find opportunities to shout".
"There are those who often seem more interested in having an impact in the media than in having an impact in solving problems and delivering progress. He is emphatically not someone like that."
He congratulated Mr Chambers "for earning this well-deserved appointment".
As Minister for Finance, he "will focus on helping the impact of high costs facing families and improving the public services which they rely upon".
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that the appointments come as the "Government is in its endgame".
She urged that no Government representative supports Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as, she claimed, the President of the European Commission has supported Israel's slaughter of children and enabled its impunity in breaking the law.
She accused Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of being a "political cartel", prompting loud remarks from the Taoiseach and Tánaiste.
There were further jeers from the Government benches when she said that a general election cannot come soon enough.
Sinn Féin is ready to prove itself in government, she said, and so is not supporting the appointment of Mr Chambers, as she said it is a reshuffle of personnel with no change of direction.
Labour’s Ged Nash said that "much has been made of Mr Chamber's youth" with much commentary being "patronising", but insisted that age should not be the issue, and wondered if Mr Chambers will be "as conservative as the rest" of those in Government.
"Be a reformer," he urged.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns wished Jack Chambers well, but asked if anyone outside the Oireachtas would notice the difference.
"Will anything change other than a face at the Cabinet table?"
As someone who has also been "patronised" because of her age, she said that "we need more young people in politics".
Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit said that his party will be opposing Mr Chambers's appointment "for policy reasons not for personal reasons" as more than a century of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil finance ministers have not delivered and have left "an absolutely dire housing crisis".
It is not time to change the personalities or the image of the two parties but time for an election, he said.
Read more:
The questions facing Jack Chambers as he begins new role
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
