Vol. 522 No. 2
13 Mr. Noonan asked the Minister for Finance if he has received any reply from the European Investment Bank with regard to his communication to nominate Mr. Hugh O'Flaherty to a position as vice-president of the Bank; if the European Investment Bank has indicated that it will evaluate Mr. O'Flaherty's suitability for the post; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18425/00]
I set out, on 21 June last, the position regarding the nomination and its place in the European Investment Bank procedure. I also dealt extensively with this matter in the course of the earlier debate in the House on 23 May 2000. I will set out again the current position regarding Mr. O'Flaherty's nomination.
Deputies will be aware that I formally submitted Mr. O'Flaherty's name to the bank on 18 May 2000. They will also be aware that the nomination was the subject of High Court proceedings in the interim and that the European Investment Bank was aware of the position in regard to the court action, through contacts at official level with my Department. As I said in the House last Wednesday, it is now a matter for the bank to carry through the procedures in relation to the nomination. Since then, I have written to the president of the European Investment Bank to ask him to expedite the matter.
The question of a formal reaction from the bank in the nomination does not arise that this stage. The proposal has been circulated by the bank to the board of directors and, following completion of this procedure, which as I indicated previously had been interrupted by the High Court proceedings, the matter will go to the governors who make the appointment.
Does the Minister intend, on behalf of the Government, to proceed with this appointment?
Yes.
Is it his understanding of the EIB procedure that the board of directors will make a value judgment on the merits of the candidate and that it will not simply be a rubber stamping procedure?
This matter is subject to various procedures which must be followed by the European Investment Bank. An agreement on how those procedures should be dealt with was reached in 1992. This is a matter for the board of governors to consider the Government's nomination in line with its mandate. It is Ireland's turn to nominate a person to fill the position of vice-president and we put forward the name of Mr. Hugh O'Flaherty in that regard.
Is the Minister confident that the European Investment Bank will accept the nomination and that Mr. Hugh O'Flaherty will become vice-president in the near future? Will he indicate if he expects the appointment to be made before 1 July?
Mr. O'Flaherty's name was put forward prior to the meeting in June because the opportunity arose to make the nomination, under the constituency in which Ireland operates. This coincided with the annual general meeting of the European Investment Bank. However, nominations for a director are normally made in written form and we have reactivated the procedure in this regard. I hope the European Investment Bank, in the appropriate time frame, will deal with this nomination. We put forward our nomination before the annual general meeting because it was due at that stage.
Does the Minister still believe that Mr. Hugh O'Flaherty is the best candidate available to the Government to fill this position?
I certainly do.
Hear, hear.
