Rosário Ramalho, minister who resisted controversy and achieved a concerted agreement

Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho remains at the head of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, after a first term marked by the sustainability of Social Security and the commission of inquiry into the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

The appointment of a new working group to propose measures within the scope of the sustainability of Social Security, including the reassessment of early and partial retirement schemes, was one of the issues that caused controversy during Rosário Ramalho's term of office, since it included a reassessment of early and partial retirement schemes – a decision that the left-wing parties received as a 'step' to pave the way for the privatization of the system, which the government official refutes.

Another controversy that marked the year was the dismissal of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia ombudsman Ana Jorge, days before completing one year at the helm of the institution, and with accusations that the ombudsman had acted in a “seriously negligent manner”.

Before the end of 2024, Maria do Rosário Ramalho managed to bring together the social partners around a new tripartite agreement for wage appreciation and economic growth. The CGTP was left out of this agreement for the period 2025-2028.

The year would also be marked by the indicator that the minister took to the discussion of the State Budget proposal for 2025 (OE2025) on the increase in the Social Support Index (IAS) – which serves as a reference for the increase in pensions – and which, being higher than that which resulted from the method of calculating the IAS update, ended up earning her several criticisms and accusations from the opposition.

The year 2024 ended with the Social Security surplus registering the highest value since 2010, exceeding 5.59 billion euros, but also with warnings from the Public Finance Council about the rate of increase in expenditure that in that year exceeded that of revenue, which happened for the first time in the last three years.

Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho holds a PhD in Law and has been a Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of Lisbon since 2010, where she coordinates and teaches the subjects of Labor Law and General Theory of Civil Law, in the Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate courses.

President of the Portuguese Association of Labor Law (APODIT) since 2013, she was reelected in 2017 and again in 2018, 2021 and 2024.

In 2013, he coordinated the team at the Institute of Labor Law that drafted the General Law on Labor in Public Functions, which provided for a new mobility regime, within the scope of the reforms imposed by the 'troika'.

Her CV includes the vice-presidency of the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law (ISLSSL), since 2021, and scientific coordination in several international projects, in the areas of Labour Law and Equality Law, having been, in this context, a consultant for the European Commission, the European Parliament and the International Labour Organization.

She is the wife of António Ramalho, former executive president of Novo Banco, and one of her daughters, lawyer Inês Palma Ramalho, has been vice-president of the PSD since July 2022.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, today accepted the list of 16 ministers proposed by the Prime Minister-designate, Luís Montenegro, for the XXV Constitutional Government.