The Government has approved the appointment of Ministers of State after their nomination by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Two new Fine Gael ministers – Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Kieran O'Donnell – have been promoted from the back benches, while there are also several changes in responsibility for other junior ministers.

In the Department of Justice, however, James Browne retains responsibility for law reform and youth justice

EU role for Burke

Hildegarde Naughton, already appointed to the Department of the Taoiseach as Government Chief Whip, has been assigned additional responsibilities as Minister of State at the Department of Health (public health, wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy).

Fine Gael’s Peter Burke will have responsibility for EU affairs, while Fianna Fáil’s Thomas Byrne becomes Minister for Sport.

The Government had already appointed Jack Chambers as minister for international, road transport, and logistics at the Department of Transport, as well as minister for postal policy at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, and Senator Pippa Hackett as minister for land use and bio-diversity at the Department of Agriculture.

The full list of appointments today (21 December) is:

• Peter Burke (Department of the Taoiseach, Department of Foreign Affairs, and Department of Defence),
• Patrick O'Donovan (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media),
• Ossian Smyth (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications),
• Josepha Madigan (Department of Education),
• Martin Heydon (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine),
• Anne Rabbitte (Department of Health, and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth),
• Sean Fleming (Department of Foreign Affairs),
• Joe O'Brien (Department of Rural and Community Development, Department of Social Protection, and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth),
• Kieran O’Donnell (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage),
• Malcolm Noonan (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage),
• Damien English (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and Department of Social Protection),
• Mary Butler (Department of Health),
• Thomas Byrne (Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media),
• Niall Collins (Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science),
• Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Department of Finance),
• James Browne (Department of Justice),
• Dara Calleary (Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment).