An overdue change for the better - State board appointments

Every political party that has had the opportunity to appoint its supporters to the board of state companies has done so. 

In many instances, the appointments were justified and the nominee was suitably qualified and made a valuable contribution to the enterprise they were invited to join. The better ones, and there are many, put the idea of public service far ahead of any personal advancement.

It is an unfortunate reality, too, that very many inappropriate appointments have been made, often for the most spurious reasons. In too many cases, the process showed political patronage at its very worst and demeaned the organisation misused by politicians to advance the career of one of their supporters.

The appointment last September by Arts Minister Heather Humphreys of Fine Gael member John McNulty, a petrol station owner who wished to become senator, to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art is just one recent example of how this process can misfire.

This appointment had an impact far beyond its importance because it showed how these appointments have been traditionally regarded as one of the spoils of power. The appointment was so transparently misjudged that it added to the cynicism around politics and left a Government that promised to confront croneyism in all its manifestations open to valid accusations of hypocrisy.

Since then, Tipperary Independent TD Michael Lowry canvassed Taoiseach Enda Kenny to reappoint his former PR adviser Valerie O’Reilly to the board of the National Transport Authority, pointing out that, among her qualifications were the comforting facts that as well as being bright and intelligent, she was “not bad looking either”.

It may be hoping for too much that the guidelines published by Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin yesterday will bring an end to this kind of shabby insider dealing, but the move is nevertheless very welcome, even if it is overdue.

Mr Howlin acknowledged this reality by saying it is impossible to predict that the controversy around some of these appointments will not recur, but instead said the guide was a “sea change” in how appointments to State boards are to be made. After all, the problem is cultural so the solution must be cultural change.

One of the innovations will involve the independent vetting of all candidates and a shortlist drawn up independently by the Public Appointments Service, which will then be given to the line minister for final selection. This seems an improvement on current nudge-and-wink arrangements, but it might be naive to imagine that all ministers will always resist the temptation to reward a loyal servant with a State board sinecure.

From now on, vacancies on State boards will be publicly advertised, as will the criteria for the appointment, so this will bring a clarity to the process that will make it difficult, if not impossible, to continue the kind of political patronage that has done so much to show our politics and our way of doing business in such a poor light.