Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Two appointments have been made outside the public service appointments process by the Labour leader, the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection. It reminds us of the position not long ago when the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, appointed the chairman of the Workplace Relations Commission outside of the normally recommended procedures.

It is a timely revelation because, this week, the long-awaited Public Sector Standards Bill 2015 is going through Second Stage in the Dáil. We will be hearing Ministers on the Government benches touting more false declarations of just how much they pushed for political reform. It is no wonder David Begg was appointed earlier this week and not after the Bill was passed by the Dáil. Why not wait until the Bill was passed and use the outside appointments board that would have been established by it? Why was the Tánaiste so quick to appoint the ex-ICTU chief David Begg as chairman of the Pensions Authority? What expertise does he have on the issue of pensions anyway? Indeed, I heard him interviewed on radio when he said he did not even know this job was available and that it is not a job he would have chosen, so where is his expertise and his qualification for the job? How are our citizens and members of the public, whose money is paying for his €20,000 annual fee, supposed to know about his qualifications-----

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