One of the State's top two civil servants, the Secretary of the Department of Finance, Mr Paddy Mullarkey, is to retire next February, The Irish Times has learned.
Mr Mullarkey said he always intended to retire soon after his 60th birthday, which occurred in August. Mr Mullarkey is one of the few senior civil servants not on a fixed-term contract and it is understood that he could have opted to continue for a number of years, if he had wished.
Mr Mullarkey was a key figure in policymaking within the Department of Finance. His role made him one of the main architects of annual Budgets.
The second secretary at the Department, Mr Michael Tutty, is understood to be the insiders' favourite for the job.
The position will be open to competition from across the public service. One other name who has been mentioned as a possible applicant is the Secretary General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Paul Haran, who could have the backing of the Tanaiste, Ms Harney.
There are also suggestions that the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, may take the opportunity of Mr Mullarkey's retirement to initiate a more wide-ranging review of the operation of the Department.
Sources also point to some concern that there is no division within the Department which is responsible for overall national planning. As a result, much of this work has been given to Prof John FitzGerald of the Economic and Social Research Institute, who did much of the work on the draft National Development Plan. A new area with responsibility for this is another option which the Minister may be considering.
However, this was done a number of years ago under Economic Planning and Development but the office did not exist for long.
There is also speculation that the public expenditure division of the Department could be merged with parts of the organisation and management division, particularly given that the largest budget from most departments is for staff. However, insiders say that this is unlikely.
The Minister will also have to consider upcoming vacancies at the Central Bank. Managing director Mr Padraig McGowan retires late next year, while the governor, Mr Maurice O'Connell, retires in April 2001.
Traditionally the governor's job has been given to the secretary at the Department of Finance but it is not clear now how it will be filled by the Minister, who may come under pressure to give it to somebody with a background in monetary economics.
The current deputy director general is Mr Liam Barron. Like Mr McGowan, he is a career central banker who has a keen interest in regulatory issues and was the Bank's representative on the McDowell group.
