CONSUMER activist Eddie Hobbs volunteered to be reappointed to the board of the National Consumer Agency (NCA) and never mentioned difficulties with Celia Larkin when he resigned.

Hobbs said in a public statement last May that the continued presence of Bertie Ahern's ex-girlfriend on the board of the NCA had been a major "contributory factor" in his decision to step down.

However, letters sent by him to the agency outlining his departure make no mention of Larkin and indicate he would have been happy to serve again.

In a letter outlining his plan to step down from the NCA on 12 February, Hobbs wrote: "Please advise the chairman that I will volunteer under section 10 of Consumer Protection Act 2007 and put my name forward to the minister if she wants to replace me on the board."

Just 12 days later, Hobbs again wrote to the NCA saying he would be willing to be reappointed. He wrote: "Please note that in the event that the minister reappoints and in light of the current economic situation I will waive my board fees until further notice...

"I have in the past declined expenses and will continue to do so. Please advise the chairman when making the submission on this matter."

Later that day, Ann Fitzgerald, the chief executive of the NCA, wrote to Tánaiste Mary Coughlan informing her of Hobbs' retirement.

She said: "Two members of the board, namely Mr Eddie Hobbs and Mr Alex Schuster, have agreed to retire as members of the board on 1 May 2008.

She also wrote of their "willingness to serve on the board again, if the Tánaiste so desires to reappoint them" and that Hobbs would "waive his board fees and expenses until further notice".

"The chairman [Steve Costello] would be anxious that both individuals be reappointed to the board," she wrote.

The Tánaiste has still not filled the two vacancies on the board more than three months after they first arose.

Three days later, she issued a short thank-you note.

Coughlan had been the subject of severe criticism from Hobbs who has described her as "out of her depth" and "not a business leader".

By June of 2009, NCA chairman Steve Costello was resigned to carrying on without the assistance of Eddie Hobbs, the letters show.

He wrote: "It has been a pleasure for me to work with you and I very much appreciated the energy and expertise which you brought to the board. Your contribution has helped to lay firm foundations for the National Consumer Agency to build on in the coming years.

"The work of our board during the founding period of the agency has been a main contributing factor to the agency's success to date and I should like to thank you for your role in that regard.

"I wish you all the success in the future and once again thank you for your services to the National Consumer Agency."

Hobbs said: "I decided that I was probably not going to be reappointed and I decided to use the opportunity to bring attention to the matter of Celia Larkin being personally granted a €40,000 loan by the Irish Nationwide chief executive Michael Fingleton.

"I did it effectively to ensure that the National Consumer Agency's reputation would not be further damaged. To me, it was the right thing to do.

"There wouldn't be any record of this in those documents because my issue with Celia Larkin was verbalised and not written down.

"The position I had taken is I'll go forward for retirement and I knew the minister wouldn't reappoint me. Subsequently in March, the Irish Times ran a story confirming that a loan had been fast-tracked by Michael Fingleton [for Celia Larkin].

"This was a significant contributing factor in my decision. It hardened my position in that it was proving very damaging to the agency. I then took the opportunity to highlight it."