Paschal Donohoe

Following the resignation of Lucinda Creighton, who had broken the government whip in a vote on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, Donohoe was appointed as Minister of State for European Affairs on 12 July 2013.[7]

On 11 July 2014, Donohoe was promoted to the cabinet, as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, a position he held until 6 May 2016.[8]

During his tenure he oversaw the sale of the Government's remaining 25% stake in Aer Lingus, to the International Airlines Group, however, he was also confronted with a series of strikes by Dublin Bus, Luas and Irish Rail workers.[9]

Donohoe was appointed Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, following the formation of a Fine Gael minority government in May 2016.[10]

In the weeks leading up to his first budget in October 2016, Donohoe took over most of the workload from Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, who had been hospitalised for a period.[11] Hopes of a budget splurge were quashed after Donohoe signalled Brexit and other world events would have “seismic consequences” on Ireland.[12] On budget day he announced €58 billion in various day-to-day and capital expenditure which was an increase in €4 billion from the previous budget.

During his tenure as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Donohoe dealt with a number of complex issues, including a threatened strike by the Garda Síochána. This resulted in a recommendation by the Labour Court and the decision not to proceed with industrial action by members of AGSI and the GRA.[13]

Donohoe also negotiated a new national pay agreement for public servants, known as the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020.[14] This outlined a roadmap for the full and complete unwinding of the emergency legislation introduced during the financial crisis (FEMPI - Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) as it affects, among other things, the remuneration of public servants and the pensions in payment of retired public servants.

Donohoe also formed part of the Government's negotiating team following the 2016 general election. This resulted in the formation of a minority Fine Gael government with Independents, underpinned by a confidence and supply agreement with the main opposition party Fianna Fáil.

His period as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform ended on 27 June 2020, following the formation of the 32nd Government led by Micheál Martin. He is succeeded by Michael McGrath.

Following the appointment of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach, Donohoe was appointed as Minister for Finance, taking office on 14 June 2017. On 10 October 2017, Donohoe presented his first budget as Minister for Finance.[15][16]

Donohoe presided over the public finance during a time when a budget surplus was recorded (in 2018) for the first time since the financial crisis (2006), marking a significant achievement for the Government.

Working with Cabinet colleagues, he engineered a new €116bn, 10-year National Development Plan which underpins Project Ireland 2040; a plan aimed at preparing for an Ireland in which an extra one million people will live and which will have 660,000 more people at work.[17] This also feeds into the Government's bid to increase Ireland's annual capital expenditure in line with EU norms. Budget 2019 saw an increase in capital expenditure by 25%, going from €5.7bn in 2018 to €7.2bn in 2019.

In both of his budgets as Minister for Finance, Donohoe made decisions to increase taxes in order to allow for increased spending. In Budget 2018, this was done by way of a tripling of the stamp duty rate on the sale of commercial property. The following year he reverted to the standard rate of VAT for the hospitality and services sector (going from 9% back up to 13.5%); a measure which had been introduced during the financial crisis in a bid to aid those sectors.

In 2018, Donohoe and Michael D'Arcy welcomed Ireland's issuing of its first green bond, making Ireland one of the first countries in the world to do so.[18]

That year he also published Ireland's Roadmap on Corporation Tax (CT) taking stock of the changing international tax environment, outlining the actions Ireland has taken to date in the area of CT and the further actions to be taken over the coming years.[19]

Donohoe is an opponent of the European Commission's Digital Services Tax, instead favouring a more globalised approach to the matter through the work of the OECD. He is a staunch defender of Ireland 12.5% corporation tax, which he repeatedly says will neither go up nor down under his Government's tenure, offering security to businesses in that regard.

Donohoe is a regular attendee at the Davos World Economic Forum. He also attends at the Bilderberg Meetings.

Following the appointment of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach, Donohoe was appointed for a second term as Minister for Finance on 27 June 2020.

On 9 July 2020, Donohoe was elected as President of the Eurogroup, succeeding Mário Centeno, taking office on 13 July 2020.[1]