merrion street

Following open competitions the Department has appointed Mr. John McCarthy as Chief Economist and Mr. Des Carville as Head of its Shareholder Management Unit.

John will be responsible for the provision of high quality economic policy advice to the Minister and to the Government. This includes responsibility for the enhanced economic division; developing greater capabilities in economic planning; focussing on more strategic objectives and monitoring and forecasting the performance of the Irish economy and sectors therein.

This is a newly created position in the Department as set out in the Department’s Strategy Statement published on the 10th of May 2012 and is at the Assistant Secretary level. John was appointed following an open, competitive process run by the Top Level Appointments Committee (TLAC).

John has nearly twenty years’ experience working as an economist. Prior to taking up this post, he was a senior economist in the Department, heading up the macro-economic analysis unit for the past number of years. As well as working intensively on domestic economic and fiscal policy issues, he has considerable international experience. At a European level he was the deputy member of the European Council’s Economic and Financial Committee for a number of years addressing key economic issues facing the Union. He previously worked as an economist in the Central Bank. He holds a degree in Economics and Mathematics from TCD and an MSc (first class) in Economics from UCD.

Mr Des Carville has been appointed as head of the Department’s Shareholder Management Unit following a competitive recruitment process undertaken by the NTMA. Des will be responsible for the completion of the restructuring of the banking system and managing the State’s shareholding in the banks and disposals thereof.

Des has worked for Davy Corporate Finance since 1998 becoming a director in 2001. His role encompassed all aspects of public and private capital markets including IPOs, primary and secondary fundraisings, acquisitions, disposals, hostile and recommended takeovers and general corporate finance advice. He has been involved in a wide range of public and private company transactions. This experience will play a critical role as we move to the next phase of exiting the State’s shareholding in the banking sector. He is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland (FCA), having trained with KPMG from 1994 to 1998, and the Institute of Bankers. He holds a BSc (mgt) from TCD.

Commenting on the appointments Secretary General Moran said:

“I welcome the appointments of both Des and John to critical position in the senior management team of the Department. Since my appointment as Secretary General to the Department, it has been my goal to realign and strengthen the functioning of all elements of the Department. With these appointments, we now filled all the new roles. I am delighted John has accepted to take in this challenging role and already he has indicated to me a desire to introduce new levels of stakeholder involvement which I support greatly. Des brings all his corporate finance experience to his position as Head of the Shareholder Management Unit at a key moment as we make decisions about the State’s ongoing shareholding in the banks. I look forward very much to working with them both.”