THE NEWS THAT John Moran is resigning from the Department of Finance has caused quite a stir this afternoon, even bringing down the Department’s website.
But who is the former Secretary General?
Moran could not be accused of being a career civil servant. He joined from the private sector after the previous top dog at Merrion Street, Kevin Cardiff, was sent packing by the new Government to the European Court of Auditors.
It wasn’t long before the new Secretary General started making headlines, with the €85,000 spent on his headhunt first to come under scrutiny.
His career to date had taken in spells at Zurich Bank, Zurich Capital Markets, and had previously worked with top Dublin law firm McCann Fitzgerald. He passed the New York bar at the age of 21.
And that’s not all. He also took time out to open a juice bar in Cordes-sur-Siel in the South of France.
It was his role as head of Zurich Capital Markets that attracted the ire of Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty shortly after news of his appointment was announced.
Doherty fell foul of the Ceann Comhairle in the Dail when he demanded that Moran’s appointment be vetted under fitness and probity legislation designed to deal with banking sector appointments.
It was a baptism of fire for Moran in front of the Public Accounts Committee in June of 2012, when he had to account for how the government managed to overstate its debt liabilities by more than €3.6 billion.
Sources in Finance today described him as “very progressive”, and cited his private sector background as being responsible for a swathe of new ideas being brought into the Department.
He certainly wasn’t afraid to rock the boat, taking aim at the goals set for the Department of Finance early in his tenure. A document published under his watch said it was “impossible for (the department) to achieve its overriding strategic goals”.
He also suggested that households which have accrued debts they cannot pay off should have their burden written off.
John Moran is now due to wind down in his position at the Department over the next couple of months, before moving on to an as-yet-unspecified role in the private sector.
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