Editing Brendan Howlin (section)

===Cabinet minister (1993–1997)===
[[Image:Brendan Howlin 1996 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1|left|Howlin in 1996]]
The [[1992 Irish general election|1992 general election]] resulted in a [[hung parliament|hung Dáil]] once again; however, the Labour Party enjoyed their best result to date at the time. After negotiations, a Fianna Fáil-Labour Party coalition government came to office. Howlin joined the cabinet of [[Taoiseach]] [[Albert Reynolds]], as [[Minister for Health (Ireland)|Minister for Health]]. During his tenure the development of a four-year health strategy, the identifying of [[HIV/AIDS]] prevention as a priority and the securing of a £35 million investment in childcare were advanced. Howlin, however, was also targeted by anti-abortion groups after introducing an act which would allow abortion information.

In 1994, the Labour Party withdrew from the government after a disagreement over the appointment of [[Attorney General of Ireland|Attorney General]] [[Harry Whelehan]] as a Judge of the [[High Court (Ireland)|High Court]] and [[High Court (Ireland)|President of the High Court]]. However, no general election was called and, while it was hoped that the coalition could be revived under the new Fianna Fáil leader [[Bertie Ahern]], the arithmetic of the Dáil now allowed the Labour Party to open discussions with other opposition parties. After negotiations a [[24th Government of Ireland|Rainbow Coalition]] came to power involving Fine Gael, Labour and [[Democratic Left (Ireland)|Democratic Left]]. In [[John Bruton]]'s cabinet, he became [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for the Environment]].