The fallout from the last-minute appointment of almost 60 people to semi-State boards by outgoing ministers continued yesterday.
The new leader of Fine Gael, Mr Enda Kenny, criticised the Government's decision to make the appointments and said the creation of an appointments commission would bring more transparency to the process.
He said it would also provide a ready-made list for when such appointments arose. Mr Kenny said that all appointments should be based on the candidate's suitability for the position.
As a minimum requirement, no State appointments should be made between an election being called and a new government being formed, he said on RTÉ radio. "And if particular individuals were to be revealed to be effective then outgoing ministers could leave a note on the file to that effect," he said.
However, Mr Kenny has also been criticised in the past for making political appointments. In March, Fianna Fáil deputy Mr Willie O'Dea said Mr Kenny had appointed a friend of Mr Michael Noonan's and a Fine Gael fundraiser when he appointed Mr Tony Brazil to the Tourism Council.
The Rainbow Coalition of Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left made more than 40 appointments when it left government in 1997.
Mr Ruairí Quinn of Labour appointed Mr Tony Brown as Ireland's senior representative at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The appointment was made less than one week before the new FF/PD government took office in 1997.
Mr Brown replaced a former Fianna Fáil senator, Mr Brian Hillery, and was a former special adviser to Labour's Mr Toddy O'Sullivan, then a minister of state.
The new Minister for Communications and Natural Resources, Mr Dermot Ahern, dismissed Fine Gael's criticisms yesterday and said the allegations of "cronyism" were an insult to the people who had been appointed.
