Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 10, lines 34 to 37, to delete all words from and including "of—" in line 34 down to and including "director." in line 37 and substitute the following:

"of not more than 5 directors (including the chairperson).".

These amendments relate to the board of directors. Section 14 specifies that the board of directors will consist of not more than five directors but it includes the chief executive as one of the directors. We had a lengthy discussion on this matter on Committee Stage and I raised the issue of corporate governance and the best modus operandi for an important State body such as NORA. I made the point that in former times a board was thought to operate more efficiently with a managing director. In more recent times, in my experience, a chief executive has reported to a board of directors and acted to some extent as its secretary and that is the modus operandi of a number of institutions.

The Minister replied that there were examples across the State sector where the chief executive was also a member of the board as a sine qua non, unlike many companies, agencies and community bodies. I propose a provision that only the chairperson be included as a director. Recently there has been an increase in executive chairpersons, where the chair takes on an executive function and operates as the final operational officer for the company. The chief executive reports to that chairperson, who represents the chief executive on the board.

Amendment No. 27 seeks to include a provision that 40% of the composition of the board be male and 40% female. That is similar to the proposal in amendment No. 38, introducing a new subsection (11) requiring that the Minister ensure not less than 40% of the board be women and not less than 40% men. This is a tradition of my party. The Government of Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party in the early 1990s introduced legislation to ensure that women were equally represented in State agencies. A fundamental principle of the Labour Party advocates gender equality as far as possible. At political level we have always tried to promote women candidates and we are proud that one third of our parliamentary party is made up of women, though that is much smaller than we would like it to be. As my party's spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment, social and family affairs and in my present portfolio I have always tried to insert this requirement in Bills relating to State agencies.

On Committee Stage the Minister said that, given the technical nature of the oil industry, it would be problematic to tie the hands of a Minister by insisting on gender equality on the board. There are broader issues. The Financial Times commented recently that, while there was an upsurge in the appointment of women throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, since the turn of the century, instead of more women at the upper levels of public companies there seemed to be fewer female chief executives and directors. The Financial Times investigated the reasons this new glass ceiling seems to have appeared, leaving aside the historical difficulties women have combining their devotion to families and children with work, a difficulty men also face. It is important to put forward this modest amendment throughout the public service and for semi-State bodies to ensure we have the best expertise, in men and women, available at the highest levels of a company.

The Minister has appointed women to senior positions within his own portfolio, for which I commend him. He said he did not want to issue prescriptions in this regard but we should make such provisions the norm. I remember being with the Ceann Comhairle, or a predecessor of his, in the Parliament of Finland. The Parliament, he might remember, is shaped like our own and has a statue of a man and a woman where our Press Gallery is, though the press gallery is not in such a prominent position in Finland — it is in a bullpen behind the members. The thing that struck one about the Finnish Parliament was its gender equality, and men and women were scattered throughout the parties in the assembly, particularly our sister party. That is a good aspiration. The Minister should bite the bullet and insert it in the legislation from day one.

I am sure expertise exists among women not just in Ireland but across the world. We discussed the oil conference the Minister opened today and his comment that Ireland was an exciting oil province of the future. It is an area where our most talented men and women will be active. In that context I want to make a strong case for amendments Nos. 27 and 38. I also make the case for amendment No. 29 which seeks to insert the phrase, "but not withstanding any involvement in these sectors which may cause a conflict of interest to arise when carrying out their duties as a NORA director". This refers back to previous discussions and asks that the Minister would require a high level of experience and competence in the oil industry, whether experience of distribution or exploration. The person selected should have gained experience throughout the industry. We want to add that this experience should preclude any continuing involvement which might allow a conflict of interest to arise. Clearly, directors of the NORA board should not have a direct conflict of interest related to the industry. The Minister referred to these areas in section 3, but I wish to clarify the issue with this amendment.

See this speech in context