THE DÁIL has confirmed the appointment of John Buckley as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to succeed John Purcell who retires today after almost 14 years in the position.
Mr Buckley, an accountant and barrister by profession, is the secretary of the office of the CAG and director of audit and directs the office's value for money audit function.
During a debate on the issue Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe paid tribute to Mr Purcell, whom he said fulfilled his role "in exemplary fashion and leaves a legacy of considerable achievement".
Mr O'Keeffe said that since Mr Purcell's appointment "there have been significant improvements in the areas of financial management, human resources management, regulatory reform . . . and customer service delivery. However, we must also acknowledge that many more changes are both awaited and needed."
Mr Buckley "has many years service in the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and I understand that his performance in his current senior position in that office is exemplary. Over his career to date he has worked in all divisions of the office".
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton also paid tribute to Mr Purcell "for his outstanding contribution and for the quality of the reports he produced and their enormous value in forming the work of this House. The truth is, were it not for the beacon of light coming from the committee of public accounts, and the CAG in particular, we would be stumbling around in the dark most of the time about what is happening in departments with public monies.
"We should reform and extend the role of the CAG so that it does not so much focus after the event on past failures and sob over the milk that has been spilled, but considers why departments keep making the same mistakes."
Mr Bruton said he knew Mr Buckley " . . . will bring enormous skills to bear on the job".
Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said Mr Purcell "has been an outstanding public servant" and "has been a leader in the development of public service auditing and reporting in a way that has marked him out as being among the best in Europe in seeking to use the position of CAG in the way intended in the Constitution" to ensure accountability in the way taxpayers' money is used.
