Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 16, after line 42, to insert the following new subsections:

"(3) A member who does not attend a meeting of the Board shall within three days of non-attendance, submit to the Minister in writing, the reasons for that non-attendance.

(4) A member shall cease to hold office if the Minister is satisfied that due to absence, a member cannot continue to discharge their duty.".

One word that is absent from this section, if the House will excuse the pun, is "absence". The Bill specifies, somewhat vaguely at times, that the Minister may at any time remove any appointed member from office under certain conditions. It does not refer to cases were a member regularly fails to attend board meetings. My amendment provides that a member who cannot attend should notify the Minister within three days of the reason he or she was unable to attend. It also provides that the member shall cease to hold office if the Minister is satisfied that due to absence, the member cannot continue to discharge his or her duty.

I am not sure how often the board will meet. However, there are only 11 people deciding a huge budget. Ideally they should not miss any meetings, although that happens from time to time. They need to be fully up to date and briefed on what is happening. If members are not attending meetings, bad decisions could be made and the public would suffer as a result. The issue of absence of board members should be addressed. I hope the Minister of State will accept this amendment.