Sweeping the boards

But could this be the final spin on the state board merry-go-round for political cronies? Even some Fianna Fail TDs, notably Michael McGrath from Cork, were exasperated by the final-day “strokes” of his ministerial colleagues.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh of Sinn Fein wants laws to stop the government from making appointments or signing orders after the Dail has been dissolved. But there are also calls for more profound reform of how people are appointed to state boards.

Maura Quinn, chief executive of the Institute of Directors Ireland, feels there’s finally a real mood for change in the political class. “There are huge problems facing the new government,” she said. “Here’s one they can solve quickly. It’s an easy win and will send out a strong message.”

Quinn envisages boards being made up of the cream of Irish business, chosen for their skills and experience. Many, she suggests, would give their expertise for free if they felt they were able to make a contribution to turning the economy around.

Nat O’Connor, director of Tasc, a left-leaning think tank, believes the make-up of state boards is too important to leave to the usual suspects.

“If everyone is a middle-aged man from the same background, with the same skills, there is less likelihood they will challenge each other’s assumptions,” he said.

In their election manifestos, Labour and Fine Gael committed to hiring the best to the boards of state and semi-state companies. They have sought to portray Fianna Fail’s end-of-empire flurry of appointments as the last sting of a dying wasp.

Brendan Howlin, the minister for public sector reform, has vowed to sweep out the boards and end political patronage. But it is still unclear how he plans to go about this.

In their pre-election manifesto, Labour promised to create a database of qualified individuals. Ministers would be free to choose candidates, but they would be vetted by an Oireachtas committee.

Fine Gael suggested every paid director on a state board should resign and reapply for their post. Every vacancy would be advertised and the Public Appointments Service would create a shortlist and present it to the relevant minister.

Neither suggestion was included in the Programme for Government. Howlin is now drawing up a memo for cabinet on how best to reform the appointments process. So how can the new government keep cronies out of the boardroom?

When Joe Burke, Bertie Ahern’s long-time friend, was appointed chairman of Dublin Port in 2002, the former taoiseach defended the move by saying Burke’s wife’s family was “from the port and lived in the port”.

Four years later, when questioned about his finances, Ahern openly admitted he bestowed seats on state boards to people “because they were his friends”.

Ahern used state boards, where fees typically range from €6,000 to €15,000 for directors and €9,000 to €30,000 for chairmen, as rewards, but also to exert his political influence, placing trusted lieutenants on boards where controversy was likely to erupt.

When Ahern appointed Chris Wall, a close friend, to the board of Aer Lingus in 1998, Wall gained free flights and generous remuneration. Ahern, in turn, was able to keep abreast of every twist and turn in the troubled company’s fortunes. The airport workforce is a key vote in north Dublin.

The system Ahern embraced hails back to Tammany Hall in the late 1800s. Senator George W Plunkitt, the great chronicler of that era, observed: “You can’t keep an organisation together without patronage. Men ain’t in politics for nothin’.”

Every ruling party in recent years has proved his thesis, seeming unable to resist sharing the spoils of victory with supporters. Even the Green party appointed many of its own to such obscure sinecures as the Irish Film Board and Private Residential Tenancies Board.

O’Connor compares the dishing out of appointments to the honours system in Britain. “In many ways, it has become a substitute for it,” he said.

So can Howlin really repeal a culture so ingrained in Irish politics?

Quinn wants an independent committee set up to dole out appointments. This body could sit under the existing Commission for Public Service Appointments but would not, she insists, be another quango. “It would essentially be a panel of interviewers drawn from business and the public service,” she said.

Tasc is finalising its policy and will present a paper to government in the coming weeks, but it is unlikely to be “prescriptive”, said O’Connor. One key aspect will be a recommendation that boards should be made up of different stakeholders and experts. Fine Gael and Labour have pledged to ensure that 40% of those on boards should be women, up from 34% at the moment. “The numbers seem reasonably high,” said O’Connor, “but on the big semi-states, it’s just 18%.”

Tasc also wants more employee and customer representatives on boards. “Employee or customer representatives are typically more concerned with long-term viability than short-term profit. A better mix may have spared us some of the worst excesses of state agencies such as the Dublin Docklands Development Authority in recent years,” said O’Connor.

Another flaw in the system is the number of directors who serve on multiple boards. O’Connor said: “If you are on more than one large semi-state, can you really devote enough time to your role?”

Quinn opposes the Fine Gael policy of forced resignations. “One of the key things you need on a board is continuity,” she said. “There are lots of good people serving on boards but, due to the current system, it’s easy to label appointees as cronies, even when it’s unfair.”

Quinn, who says many directors serve on a voluntary basis, thinks every board should put together a menu of the skills it needs. “Most boards need a range of competencies, so they should be able to advertise for a legal expert or a specialist in international trade or tendering,” she said. “Candidates should fill roles for which they’re trained, rather than be chosen at random.”

This would make it impossible for someone like Páidí Ó Sé, a publican and former garda, to be appointed to Bord Iascaigh Mhara, as he was last November; or Celia Larkin, a former owner of a beauty school, to be appointed to the National Consumer Agency, as she was in 2005.

The key to reform is transparency, according to O’Connor. “Vacancies should be advertised in the press and on a dedicated website similar to etenders,” he said.

But a key question is how much political involvement there should be in the process. In Scotland, for example, an independent committee makes appointments but the relevant minister has a veto. In Canada, ministers make appointments but a legislative committee has a veto.

So what system would suit Ireland best? Quinn envisages ministers having no role. Instead the chairman of the relevant body would have an input, she said.

Ó Snodaigh also favours an independent public appointments board. “It should be small and members don’t necessarily need to be paid,” he said. “Retired politicians or public servants could serve on the board and an existing secretariat could handle the administration.”

Quinn believes new appointees should get training and that external consultants should assess board performance every three years, with their assessments made public and skills shortages reported to the relevant minister.

Before reforming the system, Howlin must get a handle on the runaway number of agencies for which he is responsible. O’Connor estimates there may be over 600 public bodies operating at a national level in Ireland. Fine Gael has estimated there are up to 6,000 seats on public boards.

Hundreds of vacancies occur every year. Over the Dail Christmas recess, 90 board members were appointed or reappointed, according to figures sourced by Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar. There are currently dozens of vacancies on boards as diverse as the Arts Council, the Higher Education Authority, ESB and CIE.

“For the big semi-states, it’s obvious you need a board,” O’Connor said. “But what about some of the smaller agencies? Do they really need all those directors? Could an executive not report directly to the minister in many of these boards?”

One thing all of the commentators agree on is that new cronies should not be swapped for old. “There seems to be a window of opportunity,” said Ó Snodaigh. “If this issue is not sorted out in the coming weeks, the appetite for change will be lost.”