ZCZC
BCN-09
NZEALAND-IRELAND-BANK-BUDGET
NZ inquiry slams incoming Irish central bank boss
WELLINGTON, June 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – New Zealand’s public service watchdog
issued damning findings Thursday against the bureaucrat set to take over as
Ireland’s central bank chief, criticising his “clumsy” handling of
embarrassing budget leaks.
The State Services Commission (SSC) said Treasury Secretary Gabriel
Makhlouf was more intent on blaming others for the security breach than
addressing his own failures and those of his department.
“I have concluded that Mr. Makhlouf failed to take personal responsibility
for the Treasury security failure and his subsequent handling of the
situation fell well short of my expectations,” SSC chief Peter Hughes said.
“Mr. Makhlouf is accountable for that and I’m calling it out.”
Makhlouf, who will leave his job in Wellington this week before becoming
Central Bank of Ireland governor in September, initially said the leaks last
month resulted from systematic and deliberate hacking.
However, it soon emerged that the treasury had not fallen victim to a
sophisticated cyber-attack, instead it had accidentally published budget
details on its website that could be accessed using the search bar.
The SSC found Makhlouf acted in good faith when he first described the
leaks as a hack and he had shown no political bias against the opposition
that released the information.
But it found he was less forthcoming after receiving updated advice about
the nature of the leaks and continued to imply the problem was a hack, rather
than a treasury mistake.
Hughes said it would be meaningless to punish Makhlouf when he was leaving
anyway, but the bureaucrat’s reputation had been damaged by his failure to
handle the leaks properly.
Hughes said he was disappointed Makhlouf had declined to publicly apologise
over the affair.
There was no immediate response from Makhlouf or the treasury department.
The Irish government announced Makhlouf’s appointment last month, saying he
was a candidate of international calibre with extensive knowledge of
financial markets and economic policy.
BSS/AFP/HR/0900