Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I stated when introducing the question, this is about governance structures. In the context of the overview and oversight of that from the Minister's Department, it is important that good governance structures are in place in any organisation that is in receipt of funding, be it from the Arts Council or Creative Ireland and that receipt of such funding would be contingent on having proper procedures in place. It is not acceptable for a person to be a director and a member of the board because that comprises the board. As I have stated publicly, in terms of instilling public confidence in respect of governance, there are issues with a board having a serving chief executive officer also serving as a member of the board. I hope the Minister will address that issue in the context of any plans she may have to introduce guidelines on what is and is not appropriate because it is far from appropriate to have a person serving as a director and a board member and then expect the board to investigate what has been going on internally.

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