The former minister for justice, Ms Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, yesterday comfortably won the support of MEPs from the Budget Control Committee for her nomination to the EU Court of Auditors.
A confident, well-prepared performance before the committee dispelled any doubts about the appointment and assured her of the backing of the full parliament when the issue is voted on next month.
The parliament has a purely advisory role in the process, but a rejection could have been embarrassing for the court and the Government. Ms Geoghegan-Quinn takes over the £150,000-a-year Luxembourg-based job in February. The post is currently held by Mr Barry Desmond.
The Dutch Liberal vice-president of the committee, Ms Lousewies van der Laan, said that Ms Geoghegan-Quinn's forthright description of her ministerial responsibilities had reassured those who felt she had insufficient accounting experience.
Confessing afterwards to some nervousness, Ms Geoghegan-Quinn nevertheless answered all the MEPs' questions during the half-hour hearing with an air of one who should not be messed with.
Asked why, having retired from politics in 1997, she now wanted to return to the fray, she said that having served 22 years in domestic politics there was only one job that she would still have been interested in, "that of prime minister".
In her introductory comments she pushed all the right buttons, insisting on the need for close collaboration between the Court of Auditors and the parliament and detailing her role in administering government departments and in introducing legislation against money-laundering.
The committee's endorsement of Ms Geoghegan-Quinn was welcomed by the leader of the Fine Gael group, Ms Avril Doyle, who said she was "probably wasted in the Court of Auditors".
