Labour accuses Hogan of breaking rules on state board appointments

Labour has accused Environment Minister Phil Hogan of breaking new rules on appointments to state boards by expecting Dáil committees to “rubber stamp” his favoured candidates for top jobs.

A sharply worded official letter of complaint regarding the minister’s behaviour has been fired off by Ciarán Lynch, chairman of the influential Oireachtas committee which acts as watchdog to Mr Hogan’s department.

The rebuke expresses the committee’s unhappiness over the handling of the appointments of Laura Burke as director general of the Environmental Protection Agency in Nov 2011, and John Tierney as chairman of the Dublin Dockland’s Development Authority in Jun 2012.