Mr. John McCarthy:

I can provide some rationale for my involvement at the outset of the establishment of the board. The authority was established on 1 May 1997 to take over from the preceding Custom House Docks Development Authority. A docklands area task force was established by the Government in 1996 to chart the transition from the Custom House Docks Development Authority, which had a narrow geographical remit, to a much broader docklands regeneration exercise. By virtue of my duties in the Department in the urban renewal area, I was the secretary to the task force. My understanding of the rationale for my appointment to the board of the DDDA by the Minister of the day was that I had knowledge and experience of the task-force work which was of benefit to the authority early in its work. I was appointed with effect from 1 May 1997 - at the very outset of the new authority - and resigned, to the best of my recollection, in December 2007 when I moved to other duties in the Department.