After Simon Harris becomes Taoiseach, a Cabinet reshuffle takes place, in which some Ministers are swapped, removed from Cabinet or promoted from the junior ranks.leader’s brief at the Department of Higher Education and the Minister for Enterprise, which was recently vacated by Simon Coveney. As this is a coalition government, Harris can reshuffle only Fine Gael members of Cabinet – the Fianna Fáil and Green spots won’t be changed.
Alongside discussing issues of the day, routine Cabinet business can include nominations or appointments for senior Civil Service roles, as well as planning how to respond to legislation or motions planned by the opposition. Issues that arise and require urgent intervention can sometimes result in incorporeal Cabinet meetings which take place over the phone.
Although junior ministers are not permitted to attend cabinet meetings, there are exceptions which brings us to “super junior ministers”. Three junior ministers, Hildegarde Naughton, Jack Chambers and Pippa Hackett, have been described as “super junior ministers”. They are permitted to attend cabinet meetings but cannot vote on proposals brought forward by senior ministers.On top of their TD salary of €108,987, ministers earn an extra €89,102, bringing their total pay to €198,089.