the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, at the Department of Education and Science, and at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, with responsibility for integration policy. He led a government initiative to deal with large volume immigration into Ireland which culminated with the publication of a new policy statement "Migration Nation". He was reappointed in this role when Brian Cowen succeeded as Taoiseach in May 2008. In a reshuffle in April 2009, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, at the Department of Education and Science and at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, with special responsibility for Science, Technology, Innovation and Natural Resources. He created a single budget line for science and technology funding as well as participating in the country's Innovation Task Force. As part of his role in the ministry he participated in trade and investment missions, frequently presenting to top global companies who already invest in Ireland or were about to do so. He was a member of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Economic Recovery. He lost his seat at the 2011 general election, with his first preference vote declining from 20.5% in 2007 to just 5%. He placed eighth in the poll and was eliminated on the fourth count. In October 2018, Lenihan announced his intention to seek the Fianna Fáil nomination for the Dublin constituency in the 2019 European Parliament elections. At the party candidate selection meeting in February 2019 Lenihan placed fourth out of four candidates with 108 votes of the 838 ballots cast. Controversies Attitude to immigrants Lenihan was involved in some controversy on 18 May 2005, when off-microphone he told opposition TD Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party that he should "stick to [helping] the kebabs", a reference to the Turkish workers who were making a legal challenge against their employer, GAMA. Lenihan apologised in the Dáil for the remarks. In 2007, he banned Gardaí and Garda reserves from wearing the Sikh turban, saying "if we are to take integration seriously, people who come here must understand our way of doing things. When the President and Ministers travel to the Middle East, they accept cultural requirements of the country and the culture in which they are operating. It is a vice-versa situation with regard to Ireland". The Origin of Specious Nonsense In September 2010, Lenihan attracted controversy when