The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuiv, defended his decision to make three political appointments to the board of Area Development Management Ltd.
Mr Seymour Crawford (FG, Cavan-Monaghan) said the Minister had written to the board and its chairman asking them to vacate their positions, and that was a political decision.
Mr Ó Cuiv said he had made it absolutely clear it would be a political decision. "We are elected to make decisions and manage Government expenditure," he said. He had responsibility for managing the expenditure of the Exchequer funds for his Department, "and I do not see anything strange in having an input into decisions on spending money provided by my department".
The board manages local development social inclusion for the Minister's department, and there has been a shift from EU to Exchequer funding for ADM.
A report by an independent body, Indecom, identified accountability issues arising from current structures. One of the report's options was that the Government would appoint the board, including the chairman.
Ms Marian Harkin (Ind, Sligo-Leitrim) accused the Minister of "kowtowing to the wishes of local councillors and others who simply want to be the first with the news of the grant, to have the letter the day before the announcement and perpetuate a system of clientelist politics".
The Minister said he had always acted properly and in accordance with the legislation.
