Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

It is actually the responsibility of the Department of Finance but I will ask that Department to send a note to the Deputy.

On the other issue, that would be unfair. I know of at least two State boards to which individuals have been appointed who everyone believes are aligned to the Deputy's party. They may not be, however, and I do not think it fair to ask them. They are very good people who have been appointed in recent weeks and months. Normally what happens in the social partnership process is that people who have attained a high standard and reputation on the national executive of employers organisations or in senior positions in congress and have demonstrated their competence and ability to administer are appointed to boards. They have proved they possess the skills. Other people who have expertise in various areas are also appointed.

If they were asked to appear before committees to answer for something when they are given €500 or €5,000 which they never claim, there is not a chance they would subject themselves to that. They would be out of their mind to do so. It is not the same as public office in the United States, where somebody takes a job where they will be paid several million dollars per year. That does not happen in this country. We do not have salaries like that for our most senior public servants. The system is entirely different. People come to prominence in different areas, whether through chambers of commerce, trade unions or the various sectors of the voluntary pillar. It is a small country and it is fairly clear where people of expertise and prominence come from. In that small pool, selection has increasingly been given over to other bodies, whether they be community, business, employer, central Government or local government bodies. It is a very transparent system, probably more transparent than most of the European systems. We should not change that, as I said in reply to Deputy Kenny. There are some pilot schemes that could be operated to allow committees to be more involved.

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