leader at the time, John Bruton. When Fine Gael formed the 'rainbow coalition' government in 1994, Hogan was offered the opportunity to serve as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works. Minister of State and subsequent Chairmanship of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party Hogan served as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works between December 1994 and February 1995. However, he subsequently tendered his resignation when a staff member accidentally sent out budget details to a journalist before it was announced in the Dáil. At the time, opposition parties described Hogan as ‘the fall guy’ for the budget leaks. Hogan was quoted as saying that "he [had] no regrets about his decision to resign. My only concern in all of this is to ensure that the integrity of the government is maintained." Following his resignation, Hogan returned to a backbench position in the government. Despite the controversy surrounding the incident, Hogan was promoted as Chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party at the age of 35, a position he held until 2001. As Chairman, Hogan had the opportunity to develop the organisational roots of Fine Gael and strengthened the network between councillors and sub-groups within the Fine Gael party. 2002 leadership election and subsequent leadership contest In the run-up to the 2002 general election, Hogan was appointed Director of Organisation in Fine Gael. Upon the resignation of Michael Noonan as party leader of Fine Gael after the party's poor results in that election, Hogan opted to contest the subsequent election for the new Fine Gael leader. While he conceded the contest to Enda Kenny, he was appointed as Opposition Spokesperson for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and became a key member of the Fine Gael parliamentary party as it started the rebuilding process. Hogan was again appointed as Director of Organisation for the 2007 general election. Soon after, he became the Opposition Spokesperson for Fine Gael on Environment, Heritage and Local government for the next 4 years. 2011 general election and Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government In the lead up to the 2011 General Election, Hogan was appointed by Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny as National Director of Elections for Fine Gael. Following the 2011 general election, the most successful in the history of Fine Gael, in which