Ms Ita Mangan:

First, Deputy O'Dea should not have any information about what took place at a board meeting on 20 September. If, as he suggests, he has such information then that means that a member or members of the board have spoken out of turn. The minutes of the board meeting will be published in due course and I do not intend to break the code of conduct for State boards by discussing the internal workings of the board of which I am chair just because some other board members may have done so. It is quite unacceptable for a board member to speak to anyone outside of the board with regard to what happened at a board meeting when the minutes of that meeting have yet to be either approved or put up on the Internet. We put our board minutes up online within a week or so of approval and, as it happens, the minutes for that particular meeting are not yet online. The Deputy's information clearly comes from a source who ought not to have spoken to him. Let us be very clear on that to begin with.