Tánaiste defends Cardiff after setback

TÁNAISTE Eamon Gilmore has insisted that Kevin Cardiff is qualified for the European Court of Auditors post and that he remains the Government’s nominee.

Responding to Mr Cardiff’s rejection by the European Parliament’s budgetary committee by 12 votes to 11, he said the Government’s decision stood.

“All that happened yesterday was the first stage of a process which has quite some distance to go yet,” he added.

Independent TD Shane Ross pressed the Tánaiste to say if the Department of Finance secretary general had been nominated by the Government because it wished to create a vacancy in the department and had a difficulty, or because he had great talents which Ireland wanted to export to Europe.

Mr Gilmore said there had been controversy in the past about the appointment of nominees to the Court of Auditors, with considerable public criticism of the fact that previous nominees were retired politicians.

“It was certainly commented on in the European institutions,” he said.

The Government had decided that instead of appointing a former politician, or another alternative, and attracting criticism, it would appoint a senior civil servant who fitted the post’s requirements.

Mr Ross said Mr Cardiff was the only one of the eight nominees before the committee who had been rejected.

“Whatever way one looks at it, this result was a humiliation, not only for the candidate but also for the Government and the country.”

He asked how the Government could nominate the sole survivor of the “shameful night” of the bank guarantee. “The bankers, the politicians and the other advisers have gone,” said Mr Ross.

“The one person who survived that night, and was part of the cabal in Merrion Street, was nominated for promotion.”

Mr Gilmore said it was not right to come into the House and accuse an independent civil servant of being part of a cabal.

“The Government that was in office at that time took a political decision for which it was politically responsible.”

Mr Gilmore said the Government would have to wait for the committee’s formal report and he asked Mr Ross to respect the fact that civil servants operated independently of Government.

“Under our system, civil servants are not permitted to speak publicly in their own defence or about matters on which they give advice to Government,” he added.

Mr Ross asked if the goodwill Ireland was supposed to have engendered in Europe, as a result of being a poster boy, was real or if the State was being kicked in the teeth.

Mary Lou McDonald (SF) accused the Government, and Mr Gilmore in particular, of getting rattled at the prospect that a senior civil servant might be called to account in the Dáil.

She added that Mr Gilmore’s claim that Mr Cardiff remained the Government’s nominee was not a credible position, given the view taken by the committee.

“More important, it is not a credible position on the part of a Government that proposes to introduce, in the short term, swingeing cuts affecting people on low and middle incomes,” Ms McDonald added.

Mr Gilmore said he understood Mr Cardiff had given a strong performance at the meeting.

“A vote was taken but, according to the reports I received, it did not appear to reflect the tone and content of the discussions that took place.”

It was not unusual, he added, for committees to take a vote. He understood the committee would make a report to the plenary session of the parliament and a decision would be made.