Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I am amazed that the regulatory impact assessment, regarding which I spoke and received no response, has been ignored in this case, yet the Government declared it would issue a White Paper to ensure that no legislation would be enacted without a regulatory impact assessment. This was pointed out by the OECD in 2001. It must be pointed out to Senator Mooney that he is saying exactly what I am saying. I agree entirely with Senator O'Toole. When I became chairman of An Post, I attended a very good course in the IMI on how a director should behave. There are courses which are very acceptable.

Senator O'Toole used moderate words when he spoke about what was expected of directors. Directors are supposed to concern themselves with a company's policies in relation to compliance with its relevant obligations, its internal financial and other procedures for securing compliance with its relevant obligations, its arrangements for implementing and reviewing effectiveness and so on. These are all very well. Immediately after this, in subsection (4) comes the following: "acknowledging that they [the directors] are responsible for securing the company's compliance with the relevant obligations". On the next page, in subsection (7), we read: "Where the directors of a company to which this section applies fail to prepare a compliance statement as required by subsections (2) and (3) each director to whom the failure is attibutable is guilty of an offence".

Any one of us would be mad to take on a non-executive role. Why would anybody do it? It has been pointed out to me what a non-executive director needs to be sure of. The Bill proposes to enlarge the statutory responsibility to every form of law affecting the company materially in respect of its financial statements. In Ireland today this includes law in respect of employment, health and safety, environment, competition, pensions, consumer protection, insurance and intellectual property. There is no way any non-executive director could know those.