Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

This arose on Committee Stage and I undertook to consider the Deputy's amendment regarding the removal of directors of the board and to return to the matter on Report Stage. The wording of the provision in section 14 of the Bill is a standard text used in legislation for the removal of directors. We considered the Deputy's proposed amendment and with the benefit of the advice of the Attorney General's office I am satisfied that acceptance would present practical difficulties in the event that I, as Minister, wished to remove a director from the NORA board. The Deputy will appreciate that the confidentiality of a doctor's relationship with his or her patient would prevent a board director's doctor from disclosing information about his or her patient's state of health without the patient's consent. In the context of removal from office there is no inducement for the director to provide the necessary consent. The standard text is provided in the legislation setting up agencies such as Sustainable Energy Ireland and the Digital Hub development agency. Accordingly, the amendment is not accepted. It would not be practical.

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