After his appointment as Taoiseach by the president, Garret FitzGerald proposed the members of the government and they were approved by the Dáil.[2] They were appointed by the president on the same day.[4]
On the abolition of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs and the Department of Transport and the establishment of the Department of Communications.[11]
On 20 January 1987 the Labour Party ministers Dick Spring, Barry Desmond, Liam Kavanagh and Ruairi Quinn resigned from the government. No new members joined the cabinet and their portfolios were redistributed.
^The Department of Posts and Telegraphs and the Department of Transport were abolished and replaced by the Department of Communications on 2 January 1984.[12]
On 14 December 1982, Peter SutherlandSC was appointed by the president as Attorney General on the nomination of the Taoiseach.[2][4] He resigned as Attorney General on 12 December 1984 on his nomination as European Commissioner. On 13 December 1984, John Rogers SC was appointed by the president as Attorney General on the nomination of the Taoiseach.[16]
Ministers of state
On 14 December 1982, the Government on the nomination of the Taoiseach appointed Seán Barrett to the post of Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with special responsibility as Government Chief Whip.[2] On 16 December 1982, the Government appointed the other Ministers of State on the nomination of the Taoiseach.[17]
On 20 January 1987 the Labour Party Ministers of State resigned their positions.
Confidence in the government
After the February 1986 reshuffle, including the failure of FitzGerald to move Barry Desmond from the Department of Health and having misinformed the Dáil about the resignation of ministers of state who were subsequently sacked, Charles Haughey sought to move a motion of no confidence in the government. This was debated as a motion of confidence in the Taoiseach, proposed by TánaisteDick Spring.[32] The motion of confidence was carried on 21 February 1986 by a vote of 82 to 77.[33]
In June 1986, Joseph Bermingham had resigned from the Labour Party, leaving the coalition parties in a minority.[34] In October 1986, moved a motion of no confidence in the government. This was debated as a motion of confidence in the Taoiseach and the government, proposed by Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.[35] The motion of confidence was carried on 23 October 1986 by a vote of 83 to 81.[36] Bermingham voted with the government; Seán Treacy, who had resigned from Labour in February 1985, voted with the opposition.
Government policy
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The "republican crusade" flagged by Garret Fitzgerald when he was previously in government in 1981 was progressed with some changes in policy on Northern Ireland and social issues.
Economics
The government resorted to high marginal tax rates to curb the national debt, which had increased when spending commitments accrued under the 1977–81 government's expansion of the public sector became unsustainable after the 1979 energy crisis. High taxes and high unemployment brought a return to high net emigration, a long-established Irish flow which had temporarily reversed in the 1970s. An economic policy document, "Building on reality", was published in 1984.[37]
Constitutional referendums
The Eighth Amendment to recognise the right to life of the unborn had been proposed by the previous government. It was adopted by the FitzGerald government, but not supported by Labour. An attempt to amend the wording was unsuccessful. The amendment was approved in a referendum in September 1983.
A bill to ease restrictions on contraception was passed in 1985. The failure of Desmond O'Malley to vote against this legislation led to his expulsion from Fianna Fáil.[38] O'Malley later established the Progressive Democrats in December 1985.
^Industry and Energy (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1983 (S.I. No. 385 of 1983). Signed on 15 December 1983. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 January 2020.
^Trade, Commerce and Tourism (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1983 (S.I. No. 385 of 1983). Signed on 15 December 1983. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 January 2020.
^Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1983 (No. 40 of 1983). Enacted on 27 December 1983. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 17 August 2019.; Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983 (An Post) (Vesting Day) Order 1983 (S.I. No. 407 of 1983). Signed on 21 December 1983. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 17 August 2019.
^Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1986 (S.I. No. 41 of 1986). Signed on 18 February 1986. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 January 2020.
^Fisheries and Forestry (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1986 (S.I. No. 40 of 1986). Signed on 18 February 1986. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 January 2020.
^An tOrdú umRéamhchúram in Aghaidh Aer-Ruathar (Feidhmeanna Aire a Tharmligean) 1983 (S.I. No. 94 of 1983). Signed on 29 March 1983. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 12 October 2022.
^Department of the Taoiseach (2 October 1984). Building on Reality 1984-87 (National Economic Plan)(PDF). Government publications. Vol. Pl.2648 (8679). Ireland: Oireachtas. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2013.