Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I am sorry for having to leave the committee room. We clashed with the Dáil schedule and I had to speak so apologies. The points I will cover have not been covered. Mr. Kavanagh is very welcome.

We are here as a consequence of dealing with governance and of the manner in which the debacle around Mr. Kavanagh's reappointment was handled. He said earlier to Deputy Kenny that he did not engineer anything in that situation with the chairman of the board. Will Mr. Kavanagh explain why he drafted a letter to the Minister, Deputy Creed, last September, which he gave to the chairman to sign saying the board was supportive of "retaining the expertise and experience of our chief executive for the significant challenges and opportunities which we will face in the coming years"? When Mr. Kavanagh drafted that letter and passed it to the chairman to sign, was he cognisant that the decision to reappoint him was a matter for the board and not something that he decides and gets the chairman to sign off on? Was he further cognisant that lobbying on his behalf is not permitted as per the Public Appointments Service code of practice?