Minister Eamon Ryan has been accused of cronyism over appointments to the Climate Change Advisory Council.
The Minister picked his former advisor Professor Morgan D Bazilian and former Green Party election candidate Dr Cara Augustenborg as members of the council.
Professor Bazilian has two master’s degrees and a PHD relating to energy systems while Cara Augustenborg has a doctorate in environmental science.
But Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan says they’re qualifications don’t exempt them from having to go through a selection process.
“These people have to be able to hold the government to account and have to say if the Minister is doing the job or not.
“There’s no process, there’s no paper trail, there’s nothing.
“The Minister basically went out and said ‘I think these are the best people’ with zero process and it just so happens that some of those people were members of and canvassed for the Green Party.”
Meanwhile The Foreign Affairs Minister has denied any wrongdoing by Eamon Ryan.
Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney has defended the Green Party leader by pointing out the credentials of the selections.
“I don’t accept that this was cronyism at all. This was a decision to put very well qualified people into very important roles.
“I’m not committing Eamon Ryan to anything, he’s very well able to speak for himself.”
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