The Government has nominated the secretary general of the Department of Finance, Kevin Cardiff, as the new Irish member of the European Court of Auditors.
Mr Cardiff, who was closely involved in the Department's response to the banking crisis, succeeds Eoin O'Shea, after he completes his term of office next February.
The appointment process involves a hearing before the European Parliament's budgetary control committee and ratification before the European Council before Mr Cardiff is finally approved. He would then begin a six-year term in March 2012.
A Government spokesman said Mr Cardiff's position in the department will be filled shortly through an open process.
Mr Cardiff was head of the taxation and financial services division of the department before being appointed secretary general in January 2010. He worked closely with former minister for Finance Brian Lenihan in formulating the Government's response to the banking crisis as it developed.
Last year, he admitted that the department failed to forecast the depth of the financial crisis in 2008 but told the Public Accounts Committee that while it had made mistakes, the department's projections were in line with forecasts from other agencies at the time.
Mr Cardiff joined the Department of the Public Service (DPS) in 1984 and the Department of Finance in 1987.
He has had a wide range of roles in the Department of Public Service and the Department of Finance, including in the human resources and industrial relations areas.
Mr Cardiff is a graduate of the University of Washington and University College Dublin.