Long-time civil servant Mr Seán Gorman is set to take over the Government department that has the most direct contact with the Republic's business community.
The Government yesterday agreed to the appointment of Mr Gorman as secretary general of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The department oversees everything from training to regulation to drawing up industrial policy.
Mr Gorman is a career civil servant. He is currently assistant secretary in the department's labour force development division.
He has served on the boards of catering training authority CERT, State tourism body Fáilte Ireland, and Shannon Development.
He was heavily involved in setting up Intertrade Ireland, the north-south business and economic development agency. He has also worked closely with Enterprise Ireland.
Mr Gorman is a member of the expert working group on the State's skills needs, and is the minister's representative on the board of State employment authority FÁS.
He was also a member of the inter-departmental group that worked on the Government's health strategy document.
The new Minister, Mr Martin, announced the appointment yesterday. Mr Gorman succeeds Mr Paul Haran, who has held the post since 1997.
Mr Martin paid tribute to Mr Haran, saying he had provided strong leadership and direction during his time at the department.
Along with the State's enterprise and development bodies, Mr Gorman will be the senior civil servant that oversees a number of regulators.
These include the Competition Authority, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the new Irish Auditing and Accounting Standards Authority.
