The whole system is corrupted and needs to be changed. The most obvious is the appointments to boards and quangos. If these entities are necessary at all, then appointment must be by open competition and not just in the gift of a politician. We clould start there. Would Labour and Fine Gael agree to that? Have they committed themselves to reform here? If not, why not?Originally Posted by Supermanpolitician
Yes, for a long time. I don't blame you for not knowing. Jim Mitchell made this point in 2001 and apart from the IT it was barely reported. Think the Sindo reported it as "Mitchell wants to slash civil service jobs" or something along those lines, effectively rehashing the same headline when Jim said the public service needed to be reformed. It has been made by various FG TDs since, including Enda.
Well, they should really push this as a policy to the forefront. Presented to a normal, sane electorate, this should be regarded as a positive development and a desirable aim.Yes, for a long time. I don't blame you for not knowing. Jim Mitchell made this point in 2001 and apart from the IT it was barely reported. Think the Sindo reported it as "Mitchell wants to slash civil service jobs" or something along those lines, effectively rehashing the same headline when Jim said the public service needed to be reformed. It has been made by various FG TDs since, including Enda.
Your mention of Jim Mitchell leads me to reflect on the dearth of competent, able people in the Dail. His chairmanship of the committee investigating the behaviour of the banks before his death was an inspiring example of genuine public service. He is badly missed.
Fianna Fail - The Loss of Sovereignty Party.
The quango system has been at the forefronf of politicians handing out 'rewards' (our money) to cronies and the people have become very aware of this following the appointments of such as Larkin to NCA and Harris to the Senate, being two blantant examples of the black art. If Fine Gael, or anyone else, has a firm policy to open any such legitimate posts to fair competiton, then I think they would be very wise to bring it to the forefront of any manifesto. If they don't, I for one won't be holding my breathYes, for a long time. I don't blame you for not knowing. Jim Mitchell made this point in 2001 and apart from the IT it was barely reported. Think the Sindo reported it as "Mitchell wants to slash civil service jobs" or something along those lines, effectively rehashing the same headline when Jim said the public service needed to be reformed. It has been made by various FG TDs since, including Enda.
It's mom and pop and apple pie. It is a core principle of FG that people should be appointed on merit, not cronyism. It is axiomatic. FF have a similar policy but argue that their friends are best qualified...like Gormley argues.
Jim brought me into FG, a real gent, but got up at 5 every morning and rarely stopped working before midnight any night.
I especially remember him making mince meat of Phil Halpin of NIB during the dirt enquiry. It was how politicians were supposed to behave.
FG even produced a bill to improve things. Surprise surprise FF and GP voted against it.
Public Appointments Transparency Bill 2008 (Rejected by government)
This Bill provides for oversight by Oireachtas Committees of Ministerial appointments to the position of Chief Executive or Chairperson of the Board in statutory agencies.
http://www.finegael.org/upload/file/...ill%202008.pdf
Why didn't they do this when they were in Government?
Presumably, because then Minister for Health Michael Noonan wouldn't have been able to appoint Fine Gael's Bernard Allen, Labour's Toddy O'Sullivan and DL's Kathleen Lynch to plum jobs in the Health Service 4 weeks before the 1997 General Election.
A demagogue is someone who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.
There have always been governement appointments to state boards. Prison boards, Bord ng gConn etc. The Celtic Tiger years, with Bertie at the helm, gave us a huge increase in the numer of state boards and quangos. This was indentified by the Greens in opposition, and rightly targeted by them as a feature of government that needed reform.
FG have targeted the need to reduce the number of quangos since 2007, aside from the cost, what are doing? Do we need them?
As the Greens will not be able to push through any meaningful electoral reforms with FF, all they can do is make sure their guys get some of these positions. Its a good move by Gormley to keep people on side, and it would be interesting to see how many of the ex-councillors have been appointed to boards which come with significant allowances.
Bertie's take on this:
http://mahontribunal.com/index.php?t...ail_statements"As I said earlier, these were loans with interest, not from businessmen but friends. My friends have been described as businessmen but the impression given that they are captains of industry is far from the truth. They are people who assisted me at a particular time because they knew the circumstances. I accepted that only on the basis these were loans with interest. That is the position.
Every person appointed to a State board whether by myself or my colleagues is someone we believe is qualified for such an appointment. They are appointments based on merit taking into account the particular combination of skills, qualifications, background and life experience that each person has. Over a long political career I know a great many people who have been appointed to key boards. I knew these people. They had relevant skills and experience. Three of the five had served on State boards long before they gave me any loan. The other two could be considered under any fair examination to be outstanding people who served the State well on these boards. I do not accept the position outlined.
Deputy Joe Higgins can make the point that all of this is a bit of fun. I do not see it as a bit of fun but as a serious issue. As regards paying them back and how, he could be right in saying that I should have paid them back. Perhaps I should have just paid them back and not worried how it would be interpreted, although I had taken the initiative of giving documentation to the tribunals. I should have been able to say that I had paid them back over several years. I did not do it that way because I thought that would be seen as just doing it at that particular time. I followed the advice I got to the effect that these matters could not come out, and that I should keep the interest and the paperwork up to date.
We have turned the corner.I commend this Budget to the House. Brian Lenihan, 9 December 2009
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