Each Minister also has at least one special adviser of their own. He joined Fianna Fáil in 2015 as a policy adviser and has been a special adviser to Martin since 2020. When Leo Varadkar became taoiseach she moved to the Department of Health, where she was a special adviser to Simon Harris until 2021. His wife, Theresa Newman, is a special adviser to Minister for Tourism, Sport and Media Patrick O’Donovan. Photograph: LinkedInJack O’Donnell, special adviserPrincipal officer salary: €100,720-€124,582The Castlebar native is another adviser with strong Fine Gael roots.

Source: The Irish Times January 26, 2026 09:33 UTC