Fiasco could cost Government valuable political capital

THE debacle of Kevin Cardiff’s rejection for the Court of Auditors leaves the Government with a series of options, each one more messy than the other and in danger of re-opening the debate in Europe on the country’s handling of the financial crisis.

Government leaders made it clear yesterday they intend to continue with the nomination of the secretary-general of the Department of Finance for Ireland’s place in the auditors’ court.

But their determination to push this through could end up costing the country a lot of the political capital that the coalition has been busy building up over the past few months.