Revealed: how Bertie appointed Celia to post
There are no written records in the Taoiseach’s department relating to his decision to nominate his former partner to the interim board of the new agency in July, more than a month after the 12 other members were appointed.
The only record in the Department of Enterprise and Employment relating to Ms Larkin is a terse, one-line memo from an adviser of Minister Micheál Martin stating Ms Larkin had been appointed.
In sharp contrast, internal memos from the Department of Enterprise - obtained under the Freedom of Information Act - show there was considerable dialogue between officials to establish a board that was independent of government and balanced between various interests and areas of expertise.
The Government was accused of political cronyism after the appointment.
Although Mr Ahern would not comment at the time, a Government spokesperson defended the move claiming Ms Larkin was a competent and capable person with experience in the civil service, in politics and in business.
Rip Off Republic presenter Eddie Hobbs, who also appointed to the board, has since defended Ms Larkin’s appointment. Mr Hobbs said although he initially had reservations about the nomination, Ms Larkin’s professional experience justified her inclusion.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste both have the right to make nominations to State boards and it is clear from the documentation that the Taoiseach intended to nominate one person.
In the run-up to the board being announced in early June, a senior official in Enterprise states in an email that they were waiting for at least one more nomination. “The T nominee is one certainly,” says the note, a reference to the yet-to-be-made nomination by the Taoiseach.
When the board was announced in early June, no reference was made to the fact that additional members would later be added to the board. An FoI request to the Taoiseach’s department in relation to Ms Larkin’s appointment uncovered no documentation. This suggests that the nomination was made by Mr Ahern orally via an official, or by telephone, almost two months after the rest of the board was appointed.
Fine Gael Enterprise spokesman Phil Hogan said that although the appointment had been the prerogative of the Taoiseach, he would be watching very closely to see how Ms Larkin could contribute to the National Consumer Agency. “It is his prerogative to make that appointment but the delay in making that appointment compared to the rest of them raises suspicions about the reasons for it,” he said.
