Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has nominated his former partner Celia Larkin to join the board of the National Consumer Agency, the new body to promote and protect the interests of consumers.
Ms Larkin will be formally appointed to the agency's interim board in the coming weeks by Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin.
She is owner of the Beauty at the Blue Door beauty parlour business in Drumcondra, north Dublin. For years after Mr Ahern became Taoiseach in 1997, she managed his constituency office from Government Buildings.
Mr Ahern's spokesman rejected any suggestion that the nomination smacked of cronyism. "Everybody who is appointed to State boards is appointed on the basis that they have the appropriate skills and experience."
The level of remuneration for membership of the board is not known. "In relation to remuneration of either the chair or members of the board, those details have not been worked out yet," Mr Martin's spokeswoman said.
The interim board of the agency is chaired by Ann Fitzgerald, chief executive of the Irish Association of Investment Managers. The board, which will have greater powers than the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, will be established on a statutory footing next year once legislation is passed by the Oireachtas.
Its members also include barrister and law lecturer Alex Schuster, economics lecturer Dr Edward Shinnick, and Inez Bailey, chief executive of the National Adult Literacy Agency.
Mr Martin's spokeswoman confirmed he will appoint Ms Larkin to the board, but said the appointment had not yet been formalised. "The nomination was received from the Department of the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste are consulted on all nominations to State boards," she said.
"It is standard practice to receive nominees for boards from the Department of the Taoiseach.
"This happens in relation to all boards, but it is Minister Martin who ultimately makes the appointments."
The establishment of a new consumer agency was a key recommendation of the Consumer Strategy Group, which found that Ireland ranks highest in the euro zone for many consumer prices "but does not rank highest" for many business costs.
The board also includes Carmel Foley and two consumers representatives, Gillian Kelly and Marie Barry.
