Fianna Fáil has no agreement with the smaller parties in Government about the allocation of places on State boards, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has insisted.
Mr Ahern also said that the reappointment of Joe Burke as chairman of the board of Dublin Port was made "on the basis of the knowledge, expertise and experience he brings to the job".
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny asked during Taoiseach's questions if Mr Burke was reappointed "on the basis of his friendship with the Taoiseach or on the basis of merit and experience".
Mr Kenny said that Mr Burke's company "specialised in refurbishing public houses and employed 16 people in north Dublin. The High Court was told the building company had substantial debts. It is no fault of anyone that a business venture fails." Mr Ahern said Mr Burke "as a member and chairman of the board for many years, has carried out a hugely successful reform of the port company and is recognised as having done so across all political persuasions". He said the improvements in the industrial relations situation and productivity in the company and the changes Mr Burke made over many years "stand up to scrutiny by anyone".
There were many Fine Gael and Labour Party people on boards, he said. "Most of the people I have appointed in my department have a political orientation but are not from my party. They are all appointed on the same criteria." Labour leader Eamon Gilmore questioned whether there had been any changes made since the election on the appointment of personnel to State boards, and if the Government had moved towards a "transparent method of appointments to State boards", suggested by the Green Party in March in its Appointments to Public Bodies Bill.
The Taoiseach said, however, that "there is no agreement in respect of allocations, ratios and so on". He said Mr Gilmore was "implying that the bigger party gets X and the smaller parties gets Y, but there is no such agreement".
It was "no longer easy to get people to serve on State boards, given the commitment required of them, much of the time free gratis and often for very small amounts". Appointments "are based on a person's experience, expertise, willingness to serve and commitment to the organisation in which they are involved", Mr Ahern said.
