Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Whether the board wants the term to end in five years does not affect the legalities. It comes down to what the contract states. Since there have been contractual complications since 2011, surely the board has obtained legal clarity at this stage on whether there is a contract of indefinite duration. Did the Department make it clear pre-2011 that there should not be a third extension? If so, how did it come to pass that the board did not plan for this? It strikes me that this got bogged down in legalities and that the issue of a contract of indefinite duration came up. This is not only an issue for HRI and its CEO, there are parallels with the impact on and implications for other State boards of the Government's guidelines on there being one maximum seven-year term.