I do not believe the boards of public bodies have ever been enthusiastic about grappling with the responsibilities of a board of directors. It ought to be similar to the responsibilities of a board of directors in a public limited company. The responsibilities are to determine basic strategy and delegate the executives to carry it out. The basic strategy should not be determined by the employees, presumably they should make a major contribution to the determination. I work in the Cork Institute of Technology. The director of the institute does not determine the basic strategy, rather it is the governing body. It is not a titular thing, it is a clear responsibility. People in public bodies should understand that if the board is found to be culpably negligent in its responsibilities then its members are personally liable for that. Where there is culpable negligence – as there clearly was in the Blood Transfusion Service Board – it cannot be said that nobody of executive or board level responsibility was blameworthy.