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.

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.

Despite the controversy surrounding the incident, Hogan was promoted as Chair of the Fine Gael parliamentary party at the age of 35, a position he held until 2001.

[9] 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.

[10] Hogan was responsible for several pieces of legislation to reform local government and introduce gender quotas so as to increase the representation of women in Irish political life.

In advance of the 2016 General Election, Hogan noted that "this legislation has had the unprecedented effect of all major political parties selecting a minimum of 30% women candidates.

In July 2011, he outlined plans for a €100 annual "household charge" that would become operable from January 2012 for two years, ahead of the introduction in 2014 of a full property tax based on site valuations.

Hogan accepted that the tax would cause hardship to some families but presented it as the minimum possible charge he could have applied, saying it would cost "a modest €2 per week".

Hogan also confirmed that a new State utility company, Irish Water, would be set up in the autumn to oversee the process of installing meters in all domestic dwellings.

The new charges would be the first form of property tax to be introduced, since the then Fianna Fáil government led by Jack Lynch abolished domestic rates in 1977.

[16] On 10 September 2014, Hogan was nominated by Jean-Claude Juncker to be the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development[17][18] taking office on 1 November.

As Commissioner, Hogan stipulated that his priorities would be to "ensuring that rural development spending is well integrated into jobs- and growth-generating investment strategies at national and regional level".

In 2019 a free trade deal with Mercosur caused controversy in Ireland, with the farm lobby fearing competition from low-cost South American meat imports.

Some of Hogan's Fine Gael colleagues suggested denying his expected reappointment to the incoming commission because of his involvement in the negotiations.

Hogan was to "take over as EU Trade Commissioner in November after the Parliament's plenary confirms the full commission in a vote scheduled for 23 October.

[28] On 24 August 2011, during an Oireachtas Golf Society outing, ex-Taoiseach John Bruton's former administrator, Anne O'Connell, alleged that Hogan made a lewd comment in her direction.

The Commission has a code of conduct for former Commissioners, which includes a two-year cooling-off period during which they cannot lobby former colleagues on topics related to the area they oversaw.