Irish finance minister Brian Lenihan does not intend to leave his job and expects to make a full recovery from his illness, the Sunday Independent newspaper quoted him as saying. Recent media reports said Lenihan, who has won praise from investors for halting a steep budget deficit rise, has pancreatic cancer.
A source confirmed this to Reuters last week but later reports said this description of the disease was inaccurate. "Fortunately in the Department of Finance the first half of the year is quieter than the second and so that will give me a chance to undergo a course of treatment in anticipation of a full recovery," Lenihan told the newspaper. He was looking forward to a "full and vigorous year ahead", he added.