James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 12, before section 22, to insert the following new section:

"22.—The Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after section 101:

"A101C. —Before the court may make an order under section A101A, it shall satisfy itself that the society has established a Board of Directors comprising no less than—

(a) two executive directors, and

(b) 7 non-executive directors, one of whom shall be a chairman.".".

Building societies can no longer be allowed to be run as one-man shows, as was pointed out earlier. This was the case with Irish Nationwide. Proper corporate governance must be included in this Bill, as several Members today emphasised. This amendment proposes that there be a minimum of nine directors, no more than two of whom can be executive directors.

The windfalls or good fortune of demutualisation will amount to approximately €1.5 billion. This cannot be distributed according to the whim of one individual. Good corporate governance guidelines are necessary. That is why I tabled this amendment which I hope the Minister of State will take on board.