The absence of Irish representation at senior management level within the European Central Bank will seriously affect our influence in managing the new single currency, according to the Opposition parties.
They have strongly criticised the Government and particularly the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, who they said should have lobbied for high-level Irish representation.
However, Mr McCreevy dismissed the issue as a "red herring", arguing that Ireland, like all other members of the euro, would have a vote on the ECB's governing council, which will decide policy.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said in the Dail that the failure to lobby for Irish interests had been a "serious omission". While some Irish names had been put forward for senior positions, they had not been lobbied for. "When it was obvious we were going to be participating members in the first wave, we should have been looking at candidates not just as executive director, but also further down the line."
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, dismissed Mr Quinn's comments by saying that nobody in senior banking circles in Ireland had shown interest in a post in the bank which is to oversee the introduction of the euro. "If you do not go for the job, it is not a serious mistake that you do not get it", he said.
Mr Ahern pointed out that three Irish nationals were working in the ECB's forerunner, the European Monetary Institute (EMI). They will fill three of the 55 ECB management posts at head of division level.
The Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, insisted that the absence of Irish representation at the top level of the ECB would have serious implications for the economy. If Mr McCreevy had been aware of the importance of the new bank, he would have ensured that people applied for the posts, he added.
Mr Allen Saunderson, chief analyst at the Frankfurt Money Strategist, said at least one or possibly two Irish personnel working at the ECB had been expected to win deputy director general or director positions. In fact, only two Irish nationals are in the formal management structure in personnel and research, while a third is at the same rank as a research adviser. All are at the lowest level of the formal management structure.
As a result of lobbying it is understood that as late as last week Italy won a director general position at the expense of the Austrians. Similarly, the creation of deputy director general positions is a recent development in response to Spanish and Italian pressure for more senior posts.
A spokesman for the Central Bank in Dublin refused to comment on whether it had lobbied for Irish jobs.