John McGuinness ‘snubbed’ as Sean Fleming set for PAC chair

John McGuinness is set to be overlooked for a return as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee — the second time in as many weeks he has been snubbed by his own party.

The Carlow-Kilkenny TD is believed to be on the verge of losing out to Laois TD Sean Fleming in the race for the role; Mr Fleming is understood to be Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s preferred appointment.

Despite making it clear he is interested in the role, Mr McGuinness has yet to be told by Mr Martin if he is being considered.

Coming just days after the former small business spokesperson was demoted from Fianna Fáil’s front bench, the appointment of Mr Fleming to the role would be seen as a further snub to Mr McGuinness — who has regularly contradicted Mr Martin publicly in recent years.

Under the new Dáil reform rules, the largest party in parliament is given first choice on which committee chairmanship it wants to give one of its members. However, while this system technically means Fine Gael could choose to take the chair of the PAC, in practice this is unlikely as doing so would lead to questions over the level of transparency facing the new Government.

Mr McGuinness did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. Mr Fleming confirmed he is aware of “speculation” surrounding his likely appointment, but said no decision will be made for at least a fortnight.