ENDA KENNY will be elected taoiseach by the biggest majority in the history of the State when the 31st Dáil meets at noon today.
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore will be tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs and trade in the government which will be unveiled after the incoming taoiseach has received his seal of office from President Mary McAleese.
Fine Gael will have 10 ministers and Labour five, along with the post of attorney general.
The first item on the agenda today will be the election of a new ceann comhairle. Once the position has been filled the Dáil will then elect a taoiseach.
The Dáil will adjourn while Mr Kenny goes to Áras an Uachtaráin to receive his seal of office. He will come back to the Dáil to announce his cabinet team and then return to the Áras, where the ministers will be given their seals of office and will hold their first cabinet meeting.
The broad shape of the incoming cabinet was becoming clear last night, although there was still some doubt over its final composition.
On the Fine Gael side Michael Noonan, Richard Bruton, Phil Hogan, Alan Shatter, Frances Fitzgerald, Simon Coveney and party deputy leader James Reilly were strongly tipped for cabinet positions.
The final two Fine Gael places were said to be between Seán Barrett, Jimmy Deenihan, Leo Varadkar and Fergus O’Dowd. Mr Barrett or Mr O’Dowd are regarded as contenders for the ceann comhairle’s position if they are not in cabinet.
On the Labour side, apart from Mr Gilmore, Joan Burton, Pat Rabbitte and Brendan Howlin are regarded as certainties for cabinet.
The final place was said to be between Willie Penrose, Jan O’Sullivan and Róisín Shortall. With three of the Labour ministers in Dublin, Mr Penrose and Ms O’Sullivan were said to be most strongly in contention.
Former leader Ruairí Quinn had been widely regarded as a potential senior minister but may be ruled out by geographical considerations. He would have strong claims to be Ireland’s next EU commissioner.
In terms of departments Labour is expected to get foreign affairs and trade, justice, education and social protection, as well as a minister in the Department of Finance. The party will also get the “super junior” post of children.
Fine Gael is expected to have finance, employment and enterprise, transport, arts and sport, tourism and transport, agriculture, environment, communications and natural resources.
There will be substantial changes to a number of departments with the breaking up of community, equality and Gaeltacht affairs. Fine Gael TD Dinny McGinley is tipped for Gaeltacht as a junior ministry.
A number of other departments are likely to see changes of responsibilities, with the responsibility for some being given to junior ministers.
Mr Kenny has promised his TDs that the government will be reshuffled within 2½ years. In what has been widely interpreted as an attempt to bolster those who will be disappointed when the new cabinet is announced today, Mr Kenny held out the prospect of people being brought in by autumn 2013.
A number of those present at Sunday’s parliamentary party meeting, which approved the programme for government, confirmed last night that Mr Kenny had pledged a “total revamp of government”.
The formation of a technical group involving 16 of the 19 TDs elected as Independents or as members of smaller parties was agreed yesterday.
Although there are differences of policy among the different members and groups the formation of the group will give them greater access to speaking time in the Dáil and to Leaders’ Questions.
The group will have three members who will take turns to ask the taoiseach questions. They are Finian McGrath, Shane Ross and Joe Higgins. Three Independents, Michael Lowry, Noel Grealish and Michael Healy-Rae, declined to join.
The seven members of the outgoing Cabinet held its final meeting at Government Buildings yesterday. Only three of them, Brian Lenihan, Éamon Ó Cuív and Brendan Smith, are members of the new Dáil.