State appointments - Hypocrisy is still alive and well

There is a powerful whiff of hypocrisy behind today’s shocking report showing the Government is shamelessly ignoring its own rules on appointments to state boards.

In a classic example of old-style Fianna Fáil politics, the majority of appointments have been made by ministers without going through a public advertisement process.

This makes a mockery of Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s pledge that vacancies on the boards of state-funded bodies would be advertised to help attract new talent and simultaneously put an end to cronyism. Less than three years after making that pledge in March 2011, the performance has fallen far short of the promise.