Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am really glad that a little progress is being made here by Fianna Fáil, notwithstanding the fact that it appointed 182 people to various boards in a rush between January and March 2011. I wonder why? I do not think Deputy Troy was a Member of that Dáil, so I welcome the fact that, as a fresh face in Fianna Fáil, he has now obviously agreed to an appointments system.

In respect of my own appointments, the details of which I will send to the Deputy, I appointed Mr. Eugene McErlean, an individual who spoke very forthrightly about banking issues, to the board of the Citizens' Information Board. I appointed him and was delighted to appoint somebody independent about whom I had only read previously through the media. I also appointed people to the board of the Pensions Authority, but the appointments to that board are set out in statute and it may come as a surprise to Fianna Fáil to learn that three women were appointed to the three-person board of the Pensions Authority. Again, I am prepared to stand over the appointment of women in very significant numbers to a State board.

Finally, Deputy Troy made a comment about former councillor Jane Dillon Byrne. I am not sure if the Deputy would be aware of this, but Jane Dillon Byrne has a lifelong involvement in sculpture in Ireland. She is a recognised person who is extensively and intensively involved in the arts, particularly sculpture and the visual arts, and also in theatre, particularly theatre in the Dún Laoghaire area. If she is not qualified to be on a board of a national cultural institution, I suspect that almost none of the many Fianna Fáil people who were appointed would be qualified.

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