Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a wonderful phrase in the Taoiseach's reply, something like "where appropriate" and so on, which I took to mean that it is not appropriate and that they do not come under the public appointments service at all. The civil servant used the kind of language that gently lets one down, but it was very good. I just wanted to clarify that point.

Second, how well is the public appointments system working? I got the sense that the last Government tied itself up in knots by announcing principles by which people were to be appointed but, when it came to their own appointments, doing it differently and using the ministerial exemption clause or various other reasons to appoint people who circumvented the public appointments route. The Taoiseach may not have the information to hand but perhaps he could communicate to me the number appointed to State boards that have gone through the public appointments system and those who were appointed in a way that was not subject to that system. I also await the reply to Deputy Burton's question.

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