Halligan criticises Tánaiste over Begg’s appointment

The practice of Government Ministers appointing party favourites to State boards and quangos before a general election is a long-standing and established tradition, Waterford Independent Deputy John Halligan told the Dáil.

Opening a debate on a motion of No Confidence in the Tánaiste, he said Fianna Fáil, which has been quick to condemn the Tánaiste in the wake of David Begg's appointment as chairman of the Pensions Authority, secured similar roles for 60 of its own supporters before it lost office in 2011, when Labour and Fine Gael promised us a new and very different type of politics that would challenge the political cronyism surrounding State board appointments.

“The Tánaiste has always been a most vocal critic of political cronyism,” he said. “Back in 2004, when she was the Labour Party spokesperson on Finance, she said she would vigorously oppose some proposals in the new Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill. Addressing the Dáil, she said she was particularly concerned that special advisers may be able to circumvent the rules on open, competitive recruitment. She also said that public confidence must be maintained in the honesty and fairness of the public service recruitment system and she expressed grave concerns that political appointments would be made via the back-door route.”

However, there was no range of people under consideration when she bypassed the normal appointment procedures to offer personally David Begg the Pensions Authority post, a role he has admitted he had not wanted and for which he did not apply, he said. “Last week, on national radio, one of the Tánaiste's own Labour Party Deputies asked why the rules are in place if we are not going to abide by them.”

“One of the most infuriating comments that has been made in recent days is the suggestion made by Mr. Begg himself that the €20,000 a year role is not lavishly paid,” he said. “What an appalling insult. I could fill this Chamber a hundred times over with pensioners, people on invalidity payments, people on disability payments, low-paid workers and the unemployed, all of whom earn less than €20,000 a year.”

Whether David Begg is suitable for the job of chairing the Pensions Authority is not the question here, he said. “What needs to be questioned is how the Tánaiste can hold her head high and claim she has shown equity in making this appointment,” he added.

In her response, the Tánaiste Joan Burton said it seemed very odd that somebody like Deputy Halligan, who, generally, she had found to be a decent person and who came to her and privately championed a resolution for the Waterford Glass pension crisis which left thousands of workers in the company without their pensions, would not acknowledge that David Begg worked day and night to get a solution for Waterford and the work that was done with other people in the trade union movement in Waterford city.

“I must say that is deeply disappointing,” she said.

The motion was defeated by 82 votes to 32.