The decision of the board of directors of the European Investment Bank on the appointment of Mr Hugh O'Flaherty as one of its vice-presidents will be kept secret, the bank's chief economist, Prof Alfred Steinherr, has said. Although the result is due on Friday, Prof Steinherr said yesterday there were still four days left during which any member of the 25-person board could say they wanted the matter discussed at a full meeting and not decided on a postal vote.
A simple majority in favour or against is required but Prof Steinherr said whatever the result, it would not be revealed because the matter then went forward to the board of governors - EU finance ministers - for its ultimate decision. He also denied a Sunday newspaper report which quoted him as saying that the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, had been approached by an EU counterpart asking him to reconsider the Government's choice.
"I don't think we can make the result known because this is an internal process. If there was another decision taken by the board of governors it would disavow the decision by the board of directors," Prof Steinherr said.
Asked if the voting numbers would be revealed to the public, he said: "No, this is an internal procedure. The board of directors are high-level civil servants that do the preparatory work for the ministers for finance who are on the board of governors. Since it is their decision in the end, it would not be appropriate to publish at what is an interim stage," he told The Irish Times.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said yesterday it had not yet been told by the bank that the result would be made known to it on Friday. It would wait and see whether it would be making it public at that time.
Prof Steinherr said the board of governors would make its decision taking into account the recommendation of the directors. "Let's suppose there is a very small majority, then obviously the governors will have to think about it and exchange information," he explained.
In the past there has been "virtual unanimity" on such decisions, he said, although there had never been such controversy over a post. It was possible that the board of directors vote could be deferred this week with a request from just one director.
The next meeting of the board of directors will be on September 19th.
Referring to a report in the Sunday Independent, Prof Steinherr said the question which had been put to him was "whether there had been an exchange among the governors on the reaction to this nomination to the Irish Minister for Finance".
"What I can affirm is that the ministers meet regularly. This is an important decision and they would want to know the background information. There have certainly been unofficial discussions, but it has not been on the agenda of an official meeting," said Prof Steinherr who, as chief economist, also has responsibility for the bank's media department.
He did not know the content of those unofficial discussions. "I would have to categorically refute what was the interpreted in that article that someone approached the Irish Minister for Finance to make a second nomination.
"I wouldn't be able to say whether that happened or didn't happen because I simply wouldn't know. All I said was that there were contacts."
Asked if the bank had a view on a possible second candidate being proposed, Prof Steinherr said: "The bank as such doesn't exist. There exists certain institutions - the board of governors, the board of directors, the management committee. I'm sure every one of these have a view. All I can say is that in the end, the views that matters are those of the board of directors and in the end the board of governors."
He said the bank did not look on Mr O'Flaherty as being "nominated" at this stage of the process but rather he had been "recommended" for the post. It did not become a nomination until it was dealt with by the board of governors.