Before the election both coalition partners supported the outgoing Fianna Fail government’s austerity budget necessitated by the harsh terms of an EU-IMF bail-out to rescue Ireland’s domestic economy which has been devastated by its controversial bail-out of failing banks.
The two parties have 113 of the 166 seats in the Dail as well as the support of some independent TDs. Fine Gael has 10 cabinet portfolios while Labour has five. As the senior coalition partner and the largest party in the Dail, the centre-right Fine Gael has taken the posts of Taoiseach, Finance Minister, Employment and Enterprise, Transport, Tourism, Arts and Sport, Agriculture, Environment, Communications and Natural Resources.
Labour has Foreign Affairs and Trade, Justice, Education and Social Protection, a minister in the Department of Finance and a junior minister with responsibility for children.
