Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not query the eminence of any of the individuals I have named. I am querying the big dilemma for us as a society, which is the continued use and abuse of political patronage by the Government, by the Minister's party and by Fine Gael, his partners in government. That is the issue; it is not about individuals. It is about the fact that the Minister still believes, à la Fianna Fáil, that he is in charge and that he can use these State appointments either as consolation prizes for people or a mechanism - as in the case of Mr. McNulty, who I am sure is a very good man - to give someone a leg-up in terms of his electoral ambitions.

Incidentally, the North-South body appointments are cleared by the North-South Ministerial Council. The Minister's current party leader, the Tánaiste and Minster for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, was at the meeting that cleared those appointments. That is how it works. The North also has a public appointments system.

Did the Minister approve of Mr. McNulty's appointment and does he approve of Deputy Pat Rabbitte's carry on?

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