Ex-public servants need to cool off

Departing civil servants must have a cooling-off period before being allowed to take up similar posts in the private sector

The appointment of former National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) chief executive John Corrigan as chairman of Davy Stockbrokers, as reported by this newspaper last weekend, has highlighted yet another of the unfulfilled promises from the coalition’s 2011 Programme for Government.

The Programme states: “We will amend the rules to ensure that no senior public servant (including political appointees) or minister can work in the private sector in any area involving a potential conflict ...