Michael McDowell will be appointed Tánaiste today. Stephen Collins looks at how the job has changed since coalition government has become the norm.
The Taoiseach will today formally appoint the new leader of the Progressive Democrats, Michael McDowell, to the office of Tánaiste in place of Mary Harney.
The appointment does not require the approval of the Dáil or involve the handing over of a seal of office by the President, as in the case of a change of taoiseach.
The new Tánaiste will take over a small unit in the Department of the Taoiseach with its own staff and advisers as well as continuing to run the Department of Justice. Mr McDowell will have to decide whether to continue to employ the senior staff who worked for Ms Harney when she was tánaiste.
The position of tánaiste is referred to in Article 28 of the Constitution, but its role and significance has evolved into a much more important office in recent decades since coalition governments have become the norm.
The Constitution states that the taoiseach shall nominate a member of the government to be tánaiste, to act in place of the taoiseach if he should die, until a new taoiseach is appointed. In the temporary absence of the taoiseach, the tánaiste also assumes his functions.
During the long periods of Fianna Fáil rule, after the enactment of the 1937 Constitution, the post of tánaiste was regarded as an honorary one which was usually given to the deputy leader of the party. In coalitions, it became the norm for the post to go to the leader of the second-largest party.
While the Constitution specifies that the taoiseach should appoint the tánaiste, in coalitions the leader of the second-largest party automatically gets the position. When Ms Harney stepped down as PD leader it was taken as a political fact of life that the Taoiseach would transfer the post to the new party leader.
The creation of a separate office of tánaiste with its own staff, within the Department of the Taoiseach, only happened in 1992 when Dick Spring led the Labour Party into coalition with Fianna Fáil. In earlier coalitions, the tánaiste simply operated from his own government department. While relations between the party leaders were vital to the operation of successive coalitions, the post of tánaiste itself did not involve a separate office of state.
The formal establishment of the tánaiste's office in Government Buildings involved the setting up of a small team of civil servants and advisers to co-ordinate the business of government. In 1992, Mr Spring instituted the new post of programme manager for all his ministers, including one to direct the office of tánaiste. The tánaiste's programme manager became a key figure in the conduct of government business. All cabinet papers were circulated to the tánaiste's office and close relations with the taoiseach's office were instituted to ensure that potential conflicts were dealt with smoothly.
When the PDs entered office with Fianna Fáil in 1997, programme manager posts were abolished in all departments except in the offices of the taoiseach and tánaiste. Katharine Bulbulia, a former Fine Gael senator, was appointed programme manager for Mary Harney and has remained in that position since then. The position of assistant government press secretary was also attached to the tánaiste's office, as was a special adviser and an administrative assistant.
The relationship between the taoiseach and tánaiste, who meet regularly ahead of cabinet meetings, and that between the programme managers of the two leaders, Katharine Bulbulia and Gerry Hickey, are critical to the smooth running of government.