Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I move amendment No. 18:

In page 12, after line 41, to insert the following new subsection:

"(6) The chairperson of the Agency shall not exercise the functions of the chief executive, except in exceptional circumstances on a temporary basis which shall not exceed a period of 3 months.".

The amendment refers to an important issue relating to corporate governance. It is now accepted in management thinking that there must be a clear separation between the role of chairperson and that of the chief executive in an accountable public company. I stress the notion of public accountability. The chairman has a special role as a bridge between the ultimate owners, the State – in this case, the people – and the body. The chief executive has a more restricted role, namely, to do the business. Experience has clearly shown that in such cases two heads are better than one. Combining the two jobs can lead to conflicts of interest and other such problems. We should legislate against such a situation arising.

The Minister may argue it is not the intention to allow one person to do both jobs, but that is not enough. We do not have to look any further than the history of the interim company to see how easy it is to sweep principles aside for reasons which look good at the time but rarely prove to be the case at the end of the day. We need to legislate against that eventuality and we must send a clear message about the level of corporate governance we expect. We saw a number of times in the past where State and other bodies had joint chief executives and chairmen. It is not a good idea.