Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Having listened to Senators' contributions on Committee Stage I propose amendment No. 31 to lower the threshold for the interest in a business from €20,000 to €5,000. In the context of this aspect of corporate governance of State bodies, a threshold of €5,000 for this agency would place it at the lowest end of the scale. However, we need to be able to appoint board members who have a significant track record and standing in the technology area. It would not serve any useful purpose to make the criteria for membership so difficult to satisfy that persons with a real contribution to make would be discouraged from doing so. Therefore, I do not propose to accept amendment No. 32.