Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

There is possibly a distinction to be drawn between the chief executive of an organisation and disclosures around his or her severance payment and maybe those at a lower level in the organisation. The Deputy is aware there is a requirement of the Department that the total remuneration package of a chief executive in a year is disclosed in the annual financial statements. We check that all those details are given. Where a departing chief executive receives an additional non-contractual payment or even one within the terms of an existing scheme my view is that should be disclosed. It would be known that the chief executive is leaving and the package is disclosed. A different view might be taken within an organisation where several people at a lower level may have got a package because they became ill and are no longer able to do the work and so on.

There is something in the framework, which is on page 32 of the report, around confidentiality that the committee might like to discuss.

It is important that any agreement that is made does not contain confidentiality clauses that create a perception that the employee cannot speak about what has gone on or about poor practice within the body. The whistleblower legislation specifically precludes any kind of contractual arrangement where there is an exchange of money to an employee. One cannot gag them with a confidentiality clause. It is a tricky space. There is, maybe, a concern around the private details of an individual employee and that those should not be brought into the public domain. There is also this other side that one cannot pay off an employee not to speak out against one.