Monday, 7 February 2011
I might have appointed somebody (to a state board), but I appointed them because they were friends, not because of anything they had given me.
Bertie Ahern, RTE Interview with Bryan Dobson, Sept 2006
Public confidence in politics and in our system of government and public administration is at an all time low, largely as a result of the abuses that we have experienced during the past 13 years of Fianna Fail led government.
The government that will be elected when the Dail resumes after the election will face a huge challenge to pull the country out of the economic morass created by Fianna Fail, restore economic growth and get our people back to work.
But a priority must also be to reform our institutions and restore public confidence in our democratic system.
To change the broken system we need a new government, but we also need a party in government that can be trusted to deliver on the political reforms that we need.
Labour has an outstanding record in government in the area of political reform. It was Labour that first imposed spending limits for elections; that introduced the Freedom of Information Act and the Ethics in Public Office Act.
One area that is crying out for reform is that of appointments to state boards and agencies.
There are on an average between 90 and 100 appointments made each month to state boards and agencies each month. What this means is that since Fianna Fail was returned to power in 1997 it has made in excess of 15,000 such appointments.
For his own reasons, Bertie Ahern let the cat out of the bag in his interview with Bryan Dobson in September 2006 in the comment quoted above.
Not all of those appointed to boards and agencies were necessarily Fianna Fail members or supporters. There were certainly independent people of integrity and stature among those appointed. In some cases those formally appointed by Fianna Fail Ministers were nominated by various independent organisations and agencies.
However, any examination of the totality of those appointed since 1997 shows that all Fianna Fail ministers operated the policy on appointments set out by Bertie Ahern in September 2006.
Labour is determined to end the system whereby appointments to state boards are used as a form of political patronage and for rewarding friends and political insiders.
Boards and agencies have suffered because people at the top have been appointed on the basis of their political allegiances and friendship rather than on their ability to do the job.
The document we are publishing today contains a range of innovative proposals t0 transform our system of government and public administration.
All over Ireland people are hungry for change. Labour alone has the record and experience to ensure that they can deliver the change people want in politics, government and public administration.
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