IRELAND'S INCOMING EU commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is to meet European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso before the weekend as he mulls the assignment of jobs on his new team.
The meeting comes as the Government campaigns for the innovation portfolio, a post deemed attractive in light of its "smart economy" policy. The budget portfolio is also in its sights.
While Ms Geoghegan-Quinn met Mr Barroso in Brussels a fortnight ago, their next meeting will be their first since Taoiseach Brian Cowen formalised her nomination to the 27-member EU executive.
Sources close to Ms Geoghegan-Quinn confirmed her appointment with Mr Barroso, who has scheduled meetings with a number of incoming commissioners in advance of his final decision on the composition of the new group of commissioners.
The group includes 12 members of the current executive, Mr Barroso among them, as well as the new EU foreign policy chief and outgoing trade commissioner Catherine Ashton.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen is known to have discussed portfolios with Mr Barroso on the margins of the special EU summit a week ago.
In advance of the summit, Mr Cowen held a private meeting in Brussels with Ms Geoghegan-Quinn in the office of Ireland's diplomatic mission to the EU.
Following the final three nominations to the new commission, Mr Barroso wishes to quickly settle the allocation of jobs. An announcement is likely next week.
Ms Geoghegan-Quinn, who has been a member of the Luxembourg-based European Court of Auditors since the start of the decade, is unlikely to make appointments to her cabinet or private office until her portfolio is determined. Commission sources said three high-level Irish officials in the EU executive are in contention to be her chef de cabinet.
They include John Bell, who heads the cabinet of consumer affairs commissioner Maglena Kuneva, and Anthony Whelan, who leads the cabinet of competition commissioner Neelie Kroes.
However, there is speculation that Mr Whelan may join Ms Kroes's new cabinet following the decision of the Dutch government to renew her mandate on the commission. The third contender is Michael Scannell, a senior adviser on animal health in the directorate general for health and consumers.