Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Section 19(8) of the Bill provides that in the absence of the chief executive, his or her functions may be performed by a member of staff so designated by the agency. There is no provision whereby the chairperson would perform the functions of the chief executive and, therefore, the amendment proposed is not required.

On a point of clarification, pending the establishment of the agency the functions of the chairperson and the chief executive have already been separated. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendment. The former chairman, Mr. Paddy Teahon, acted as chief executive and the understanding was that the two functions would be separated in this Bill. That is the rationale behind the section. The proposal that a member of staff would perform the functions of the chief executive is preferable to the chairperson standing in. This is to keep the governance of the executive and board at arm's length. That is how we should proceed.