Martin Heydon will continue as Minister of State for agriculture for the remainder of this Government's tenure.

Following Simon Harris's election as Taoiseach on Tuesday, the Kildare man retains in his current responsibilities for research and development, farm safety and new market development.

Rural TDs Peter Burke (Longford/Westmeath) and Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick county) were promoted in the reshuffle of Fine Gael cabinet members that saw former Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stepping down.

"For me, the primary role of farmers is food production," said Minister Heydon.

Climate research

"With almost €50m in climate research investment over the last decade, we are supporting farmers in their ambitions to continue producing food, but with a reduced emissions profile.

"Farmers are under significant pressure at present due to the weather and my immediate focus will be supporting them through this period."