TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said he has “at least one more election” in him, “if not two”, stating that he fully intends to lead Fine Gael into the next election.

With more chatter surrounding when the next election will be, there has been a renewed focus on what Varadkar’s future political plans are. 

Varadkar has been accused of being a ‘career politician’ in the past – after comments he made about retiring from politics at 50. 

“Well look, I’m 44. So I have at least one more election in me, if not two and I’m looking forward to that in the newly enlarged constituency of Dublin West,” he told reporters in Cork today. 

He made the comments at a visit to Fota Wildlife Park, Co Cork, saying that he is “absolutely committed” to politics.

“I haven’t thought beyond the next election or the one after that but I’m absolutely committed to the job, leading my party, and being Taoiseach to the country,” he added. 

He also reiterated that there were no plans by the government to hold an election earlier than 2025.

He said that the next elections that Ireland will vote in will be local and European elections in 2024.

“I understand it’s something that people are very interested in. It’s absolutely not our focus,” he said.

“Our focus is helping people with the cost of living and the budget coming up soon; it’s making more progress on housing and health reform.”

Fine Gael’s succession plan

There has been much talk about the number of TDs that are retiring, particularly in the Fine Gael party, however, Varadkar said he was not concerned about the exodus, stating “it’s a natural thing in any organisation”. 

Many Fine Gael TDs have had held on to their seats for five to ten years in some cases, he said, but he believes his party is in a “period of renewal”. 

“In almost every constituency we have a succession plan,” he said. 

In 2020, the party had many retirements from politics, said Varadkar, who listed off Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan as examples. 

He said those seats were held by Alan Dillion and Kieran O’Donnell, while Francis Fitxgerld went on to the European Parliament and Emer Higgins became a TD in her place.

The Fine Gael succession plan sometimes involves a senator, sometimes it’s a high profile councillor, or somebody outside the party, said Varadkar.

“So in the vast majority of places we will have new people, new candidates, one or two places where it’s going to be a bit tricky, but like I say, this is a party that has always been able to find new people and renew itself.

“You just think of Jennifer Carol MacNeil, Neale Richmond, people you would not have heard of before the last election and now they’re ministers,” he added. 

With reporting by Steven Fox