Seanad report: It was strange that somebody was good enough for the Railway Procurement Agency but was not good enough for Aer Lingus, Shane Ross (Ind) said. "There is an inconsistency there which I simply don't understand. It is something that should be explained to us. We are entitled to accountability on appointments of this sort and we're not getting it."
Mr Ross was one of three members who referred to the appointment of the chairman-designate of the RPA and of the Dublin Transport Authority. None referred to the appointee, Tom Mulcahy, by name.
Mr Ross said that what he found difficult about this appointment was not so much the reason the person being appointed had left Aer Lingus, but that AIB bank had been forced to pay a fine of €90 million in respect of a period for much of which he had been in charge of it. There were questions that arose about that.
Joe O'Toole (Ind) said he was not casting any aspersions on this person, but he had resigned from a semi-State on the basis of issues that he felt would be an embarrassment to it. It was extraordinary that this appointment was being made without reference to anybody. There should be a suitable system, possibly along the lines of allocating a role to the Seanad, for the vetting of persons put forward for appointment to State bodies.
Noel Coonan (FG) said it seemed that the more chances you took or the more issues you dodged in this life, the better you would be rewarded.
Feargal Quinn (Ind) warned that they might not get the best person for the job if they insisted on having a vetting system.
House leader Mary O'Rourke said the person in question had been appointed during her time in office to chair Aer Lingus and he had saved the airline.
While the plaudits had gone to Willie Walsh, "the person who guided it and thought it through and implemented it was this person. He is now, I understand, because I made a query, tax compliant. He is very admirable, I can tell you that," Ms O'Rourke said.
Meanwhile, an attempt by Mr Ross to have a special debate on the nurses' pay claim was defeated by 23 votes to 19.