Finance chief bares teeth at claims he failed public
Department of Finance secretary general David Doyle (centre) and other officials arrive for the Public Accounts Committee meeting at Leinster House yesterday. Mr Doyle rejected claims he and his staff had 'let down the public and the Government'
The head of the Department of Finance yesterday rejected claims that he and his staff "let down the public" by failing to tackle the downward spiral in the economy.
It came after the charge was made by Labour TD Tommy Broughan, who said the department had been the dog which hadn't barked in the areas of economic forecasting and financial regulation.
"There would be a very strong perception that the Department of Finance has let us down very badly over the past six to eight months and in a number of areas within its remit, it is not doing its job," he said.
At the Public Accounts Committee, Mr Broughan pointed out that the department's economic forecasting had been consistently wrong and that its lack of regulatory action had left the country's main two financial institutions as "zombie banks" and "dead men walking".
Suggestion
But the department's secretary general David Doyle said Mr Broughan's suggestion it was doing a bad job was "inappropriate".
"I don't think I would accept your statement that the department has let the Government down, let the House (of the Oireachtas) down and let the people down," he said.
Mr Doyle said that contrary to the claim of "not barking", he had a reputation of being a "dog that does bite". And he defended the reputation of his staff, who he said were a "very lively bunch" with an outstanding level of intelligence and commitment to the public service.
However, he admitted that his 600-strong department had had "very limited success" in recruiting people from the private sector and was still dominated by "career civil servants".
"It would be healthier if we had more people with private sector experience at all levels," he said. Fianna Fail Cork South Central TD Michael McGrath said it was clear that the workforce mix in the department was not as it should be.
"I think people who have proven themselves in the private sector should be given the opportunity in the public sector, at no disadvantage to those in the civil service," he said.
The Department of Finance also came under fire for forecasting that 2007 tax revenues would increase by 7.8pc (the actual figure was 3.8pc) and that the economy that year would grow by 8.5pc (the actual figure was 5.7pc). But Mr Doyle said his department was not a "clairvoyant" and could not have foreseen factors such as the international finance crisis and the construction sector "over-shooting the runway" with excessive building.
"As far as 2007 is concerned, the department took account of all of the factors known at the time," he said.
The committee heard that the Department of Finance does not accept the International Monetary Fund's recent estimate that it would cost the State €24bn to rescue its banking system. But it cannot provide its own estimate, except to say that it is the Government's intention not to have the €440bn banking guarantee called in.
- Michael Brennan
