Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Perhaps the Minister of State would just consider the matter. If we want a quality public service, we should either do as the Scandinavian countries did more than 100 years ago - allow public servants to declare their political affiliation - or maintain our old tradition of a non-political public service. We have the worst of both worlds. The upper echelons of the public service are, in theory, non-political. In practice, some people are close to the ruling party. It does not make any difference that they might not have party cards. This is a problem for Fianna Fáil and the Opposition. I do not have an immediate solution, but it is one of the greatest problems facing politicians and their credibility.

When there is a change of Administration in the United States of America, there is a change in the upper echelons. The US has a system in which public servants can declare a political commitment. We have a non-political public service. This tradition has been valuable, particularly after independence, but when the same party has been governing and closely controlling for a long period, one must ask whether our public service still serves the same function that it did during the change from British rule to independent Irish rule.

This matter has not been debated recently and, consequently, the boards overseeing areas of controversy or those with much discretion have been heavily dominated by political appointees. I was stunned to hear recently that Mr. Sean FitzPatrick was an appointee to the board of Aer Lingus and that he had free flights for the five years following his standing down from that position. Mr. FitzPatrick or, as the former Taoiseach used to call him, Seanie-----

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