Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 32:

In page 35, line 10, after “committee” to insert the following:

“as expressed through a written statement issued to the director in question”.

We discussed this on Committee Stage and the Minister indicated sympathy with the purpose of the amendment. Perhaps it was a mistake in my office or in the Bills Office, I am unsure, but the line number is incorrect. The original amendment referred to line 16 on page 35 rather than line 10. I wish to clarify that although I am unsure where the error was made.

The amendment relates to section 23 which states "the board oversight committee of a credit union considers that a member of the board of directors has taken any action or decision which, in the opinion of the committee, is not in accordance with the requirements of this Part...". This relates to where there is a suspension or where disciplinary action is taken against a member of the board. This was requested of me by someone who was previously on a board and who had certain issues with how this disciplinary procedure operated. The amendment calls for any opinion, in cases where the oversight committee believes that disciplinary action is required or where someone has not acted in accordance with this part of the Bill, to be a written opinion in order that there is a clear record and transparency, accountability and recourse for the person in question. It seems a small but important and perfectly reasonable amendment and the Minister indicated on Committee Stage that he believed it had merit. I hope the Minister still believes this and that he intends to bring forward his own amendment which will take this concern on board.

See this speech in context