Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

No. Issues of governance and the responsibilities and obligations of directors are the same in the private as in the public sector, as the Deputy will be aware. That means that because of the time commitment, people are not prepared to be members of boards unless they can give the time to do the work to the best of their ability and to participate in committees such as audit committees. The duties and responsibilities of board members are demanding. I talk to many of the key people on State boards on a regular basis and many will say that the time commitment is very high. This is evident in boards in many areas, particularly in the key commercial semi-State sector. Members of such boards do not want to be reappointed. They serve their term which they regard as their duty to the State and they then move on. It is a time commitment.

Many boards hold weekly meetings. I referred earlier to the board of Aer Lingus, some members of which are from the United States so they must travel over for meetings. They put in a considerable effort and the same applies for members of other boards. When membership of a sub-committee is taken into account, such people could have to devote as much as one day a week. That is acceptable if a person is not too busy, but it is a significant commitment for an individual who is a member of one of the key commercial State boards.

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