Jack Chambers approved as next Finance Minister in Dáil vote

The 33-year-old Dublin politician will take over from his party colleague Michael McGrath, who is named as Ireland’s EU Commissioner nominee.

Mr McGrath’s replacement was chosen by the Fianna Fáil party under the agreement between the three parties forming Ireland’s coalition government.

Speaking in the Dáil chamber ahead of a parliamentary vote on Mr Chambers’ appointment, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said her party would be voting against because it believes the country “is ready for something new, not simply a reshuffle of personnel”.

Mr Chambers’ appointment was approved by 86 votes for to 60 votes against.

Mr Chambers will officially become Finance Minister when he receives his seal of office from the President of Ireland later on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old will be Ireland’s youngest finance minister since revolutionary Michael Collins held the role during Ireland’s War of Independence.

Mr Chambers, who was first elected to the Dáil in 2016, studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and holds a degree in law and political science from Trinity College.

He has served as a junior minister across five departments and spent two years as Government chief whip.

He was also Fianna Fáil’s director of local elections, and was praised by party leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin for his “tremendous” performance which he said had “yielded results”.

Mr Chambers was appointed deputy leader of Fianna Fáil last Wednesday.

The elevation from junior minister to Finance Minister, just three months out from Budget Day, marks a meteoric rise for the Dublin West TD.

He follows in the footsteps of a former Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin West, the late Brian Lenihan Jnr, who served as minister for finance during the depths of Ireland’s recession.

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Martin described Mr Chambers as an “excellent colleague” who is a “constructive and focused contributor” in debates.

“He has distinguished himself as a committed and tireless servant of the Irish people as government chief whip during the Covid pandemic,” the Fianna Fáil leader told the Dáil.

“While he will indeed be the youngest person nominated to serve as Minister for Finance since Eamon de Valera nominated Michael Collins to the post in April 1919, his experience is already well beyond that of many who have held the post in the past.”

Mr Martin also paid tribute to Mr McGrath, who he said had, along with Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, “helped ensure that Ireland limited the economic damage of the pandemic and recovered fast and more comprehensively than most countries”.