There are few jobs more powerful within the Civil Service than secretary-general of the Department of Finance. The holder is in a key position to advise and support the Minister for Finance and the Government in the economic and financial management of the State.
Not only is it a job of some influence, but it is also well remunerated. The salary is about £98,000 with a seven-year contract on offer. With such power and money it is little wonder that the retirement within the next two months of the current incumbent, Mr Paddy Mullarkey, has caused a plethora of top civil servants to cast their eyes ambitiously towards the position.
But the selection process is a closed shop. No outsiders need apply.
The appointments system within the civil service remains one of the last bastions of restrictive practices. The favourites for the position remain the second secretary at the Department, Mr Michael Tutty, and possibly Mr Paul Haran, the secretary-general of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
It is ironic that despite all the moves towards greater competition within the economy and the opening up of the State sector to the norms of private sector practices, the Civil Service has succeeded in preventing outsiders from being considered for appointment to its top positions.
The means of appointment and promotion within the Civil Service continue to be determined by a very simple rule - if a person does not enter after university, at the lowest rung on the career ladder, then more senior positions are simply out of reach.
However, such traditional practices may be outdated in the modern Irish economy. For one, with more attractive salary packages for new job starters, fewer of the bright young things are veering towards the Civil Service as a career. The negative consequences of this trend will become evident in the years ahead.
At present the top, better paid positions in the Civil Service might interest private sector employees who could bring a new perspective to the system. However, the cosy arrangement precludes such a situation developing.
As things stand, the movement is largely one way. The high salaries in the private sector increasingly provide a magnet for senior civil servants to leave their positions. And once outside the fold there is no way back, given the restricted appointment structure.
SO why not allow for greater flexibility in movement between the public and private sectors? This would require the introduction of strict rules on dealings with confidential policy matters should an individual leave a position. There may also be a need for a possible decontamination period between jobs to avoid any conflict of interests.
There is no denying the reality that all Government Departments could benefit from an injection of new talent from outside the fold. Indeed, given the evidence heard at the DIRT inquiry at the end of last year, such action may be urgently needed.
The DIRT report offers an uneasy description of how day-to-day management works in the Department of Finance. The key administrative group in the Department - the management committee - meets about three times a month. Its membership consists of the secretary-general and the main officials in the key divisions within the Department.
These meetings address all the major policy issues confronting the Department, as well as sorting out staffing and other administrative matters. However, it emerged at the DIRT hearing that no minutes were kept.
By way of explanation for this loose arrangement, Mr Mullarkey told the committee: "There are an awful lot of busy people there. Arising out of the management meeting, each head of division takes away from it in his own head or maybe jotted down what particular points he is to follow up on."
Mr Jim Mitchell, the chairman of the Dail Committee of Public Accounts, found this "deeply perturbing". He wondered how the Department managed to keep track of decisions taken at these meetings.
In the words of its own mission statement the Department of Finance sees its role as promoting "an economy which will maximise growth, sustainable employment and social progress". It is indeed a cause for concern when those vested with looking after the needs of the Irish economy appear to have a difficulty in managing themselves.
The whole DIRT saga also offers a damning indictment of the behaviour and attitude of senior officials in the Department of Finance over many years. Officials in the Department, along with their colleagues in the Central Bank, were fully aware of the bogus non-resident accounts scandal.
Yet, despite this knowledge, the Department of Finance did not make any proposals to a succession of Ministers to amend or strengthen the law in relation to the operation of DIRT during the period 1986 to 1998. These senior officials took cover behind the theory of capital flight which the report effectively rubbished.
It could well be that a fresh set of eyes coming into the system every so often might have shaken people out of apparently fixed mindsets. However, while the State remains averse to considering outsiders for key positions such as secretary-general of the Department of Finance, it continues to reduce the talent pool from which it can fill appointments.
It may be that now is the time to deregulate the entire appointment structure within the Civil Service.