Mr. Noel Lappin:

I am honoured to have been asked by the Minister to be chairman of the Private Security Authority and am grateful for the opportunity to make a presentation to the committee. Members will appreciate that as the board has not met and I have not visited the offices and staff of the authority, my presentation will based on personal research and briefings by the Department and CEO of the authority. Consequently, I may not be in a position to provide as much detail as the members are accustomed to. I have provided a written submission outlining my professional background and giving a brief update on the authority. I will summarise this.

I am a native of Dublin, where I have lived all my life. I am married and have six adult children. I have worked in the electronics and telecommunications industries for over 40 years and have held senior management positions in the operations and supply chain areas. I hold a bachelor of business studies degree from DCU and a diploma in personnel management from the College of Industrial Relations. I am a member of the Institute of Directors. In 2010, as part of the chartered director programme, I obtained a diploma in company direction from the institute. I am currently working towards becoming a chartered director.

My most recent and relevant experience is as senior vice president of operations for Dialogic Corporation, formerly Eicon Technology, where I worked from 1992 to 2011. My first task with Dialogic Corporation was to set up the Irish-based European manufacturing and distribution centre. From 2001 to 2011, as senior vice president of operations, I was responsible for all aspects of operations and the supply chain in the Americas, Europe and the Far East. During this period, the company went through an extensive restructuring programme and then, via a series of mergers and acquisitions, embarked on a major expansion programme. As a member of the executive management team at the time, I was heavily involved in these activities. I gained extensive experience in areas such as strategy, organisational change, change management, project management, financial management and due diligence.

Before I joined Dialogic Corporation, I worked with a number of Japanese and American multinationals and with Irish companies in various positions, both technical and managerial. I am currently a non-executive director of Parkinson's Association of Ireland and have been since 2010. I take an active part in the workings of the board and am a member of the finance and HR-governance sub-committees.

With regard to the Private Security Authority, I have not yet had the opportunity to work with the board so some of my comments are based on personal research. The authority was established in 2005 under the Private Security Act 2004, as amended in 2011. It is a statutory body responsible for the licensing and regulation of the security industry in Ireland. Since it began operations, it has issued over 800 contract licenses in four major sectors and over 27,000 individual licenses in two major sectors. Work is ongoing to extend regulation and licensing to other sectors of the industry.

The role of chairman is one of leadership and guidance to ensure that the board and executive have a clear understanding of their mandates and that the skills and expertise of the board members are used to best effect for the benefit of the authority. The role involves ensuring that the board, in accordance with the code of governance, understands its role is to provide guidance in areas such as strategy and governance, and that the authority delivers operational efficiencies and high service levels and is not a burden to the industry.

Upon appointment, it will be a priority to arrange an early meeting of the new board. The last board meeting was held in November 2012. As I mentioned in my submission, there are a number of housekeeping items to be addressed. A further priority will be the strategic plan. Under the legislation, the authority is obliged to present a three-year strategic plan. The current plan expires in 2013. It will be necessary to prepare a new plan for submission to the Minister as soon as practicable. I look forward to working closely with the new board and CEO after my appointment. The ambition is to continue to roll out the mandate of the authority and to provide the highest level of service to all stakeholders. I thank the members for this opportunity.