Former Rehab boss Frank Flannery should appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Minister for Finance said yesterday.

"Yes, I think he should," Michael Noonan said in Limerick when asked should the former Rehab director and Fine Gael strategist attend the PAC.

In a statement issued last week Mr Flannery said that he was, and had always been, willing to attend the committee but regretted that “the agenda as set out has left me with no alternative but to decline the current invitation”.

Revealing that he would not be appearing before the PAC, Mr Flannery outlined three concerns.

“Throughout my career I have always believed in the primacy of the institutions of the State, and I have contributed to political life in the country to the best of my ability.

“However, my basic rights seem to have been disregarded in the pursuit of a partisan political agenda designed to damage the party I have been associated with for many years rather than to elicit further information on the matters under consideration, and I would urge the committee to reconsider their entire approach.”

Mr Flannery said he would be available to the committee if it wished to determine a detailed and relevant agenda within the terms of reference of the PAC.