TRANSPORT minister Noel Dempsey has declined to comment after appointing one of his personal friends to a €12,600-a-year post with a newly-established quango.

Damian Usher, a former bank manager from Co Meath, was appointed to the board of the National Transport Authority late last year.

Fianna Fáil sources said Usher had canvassed for Noel Dempsey in previous elections. They said he was a close personal friend of the minister. A spokeswoman for the minister's department said Dempsey would not be commenting on any of the people who had been appointed to the National Transport Authority.

A statement said: "Under the legislation, the chairperson and eight ordinary members of the board of the National Transport Authority are those (in the opinion of the minister) who have wide experience of transport, industrial, commercial, financial, land-use planning or environmental matters, the organisation of workers or administration.

"In March 2009, the minister invited applications from anyone who wished to be considered for appointment as an ordinary member of the new authority.

"Applicants were required to demonstrate in writing to the minister how they met the criteria in the areas referred to above. A total of 68 applications in total were received.

"The remuneration for board members of the National Transport Authority is the same as for category 2 state bodies; that is, €12,600 for ordinary members and €21,600 for the chairperson."

Usher, when contacted by the Sunday Tribune, confirmed he had applied and was appointed as part of the process. He said: "I would prefer not to make any comment at all."

Usher was one of seven people appointed to the National Transport Authority together with chairman John Fitzgerald and chief executive Gerry Murphy.