Irish EU official Patricia Reilly will join Ursula von der Leyen's cabinet on 1 March as the Commission President's advisor on agriculture and health.
Ms Reilly, a native of Co Cavan, has had long experience in a number of senior European Commission roles, serving as head of cabinet for Irish Financial Services Commissioner Máiread McGuinness, and as a member of Máire Geoghegan-Quinn's cabinet in the Research Innovation and Science portfolio.
Between 2014 and 2019 she was deputy head of cabinet for Hungarian Education, Culture and Sport commissioner Tibor Navracsics.
She joined the Department of Agriculture in 2001, moving to Brussels in 2010 to work for Ms Geoghegan-Quinn.
After her stint in the commission, she returned to the Department of Agriculture and Marine between 2020 and 2022, rising to become Ireland’s deputy chief veterinary officer.
Ms Reilly, 58, graduated in Veterinary Medicine from UCD in 1996. She holds two post-graduate law diplomas and an MSc in both European Food Regulatory Affairs and Public Administration Governance.
Among numerous board positions, she is a member of the Life and Health Sciences Committee at the Royal Irish Academy and the UCD Veterinary School External Advisory Committee.
Between 2014-15, she was vice-chair of the World Economic Forum Advisory Council on Biotech.
Ms Reilly’s role in the Von der Leyen cabinet will be coordination and oversight-based.
