Two Meath women in Leo's extended cabinet

Meath holds two of only seven positions filled by women in new Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar's extended cabinet.
Deputy Regina Doherty has been promoted to full cabinet membership, taking over the huge Employment and Social Protection portfolio.

Meath will continue to have two Junior Ministers as well, following the announcement yesterday that both Deputies Helen McEntee and Damien English will remain in junior ministerial roles.
The new Taoiseach has come under fire for appointing only seven women out of 34 Ministers and Junior Ministers.
Deputy McEntee is on the move as she has been appointed Junior Minister for European Affairs at the Departments of An Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs, while Deputy English will remain in his current role as Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal in the Department of Housing and Local Government.
Minister Doherty said this week that the people of Meath are her first and foremost priority.
“My first priority is to the people I represent. One of my first jobs will be looking at the new wind guidelines, the response to them and putting in suggestions.”
The new minister pointed out that she had spent the past ten years opposing Eirgrid.
“I am not going to change my spots because of this, Meath will be first and foremost in my mind,” she said.

Minister Doherty said she was thrilled at her promotion and particularly delighted that she was assigned to Social Protection. “As well as looking after the people of Meath, I will also be looking after the most vulnerable people in the rest of the country,” she said.

Minister McEntee said she was delighted with her new role and particularly in the context of what is happening with Brexit.
'I share the same vision for Europe as the Taoiseach does,' she said.
Meanwhile, Deputy English said he was looking forward to continuing his work in housing as there are a lot of challenges ahead.
These included building and fire regulations, especially in light of the tragic happenings in London last week.
He also looked forward to engaging with local authorities to develop a strategy to deliver more social housing and housing for the private market.