Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

Where there is agreement between the parties, there is no difficulty. I assume it is envisaged that the said person would normally offer to retire on the grounds of ill health. However, if there were a dispute, no one would like to see a Minister remove a director without ill health being apparent. I accept what the Minister said regarding confidentiality between the director and his or her doctor, but might there be an independent referee if there were a serious dispute?

That does not sound particularly pleasant. While I understand the Minister of State's logic regarding confidentiality, perhaps there might have been provision for an independent medical practitioner in the context of a dispute. If there were no dispute, for example, where a director was seriously unfit through ill health, he or she would offer to resign. If the standard wording has not led to any difficulties, has that scenario been the norm?