Joe O'Toole (Independent)

This amendment contains very important material. If the Minister is not prepared to accept it as drafted, he should give an indication of how he would deal with it. That bank directors are independent is a joke. The copybook of corporate governance of Irish companies is the UK Higgs report. Fifteen years ago AIB decided to be brave and appointed Mr. Higgs to its board as one of its independent directors. He promptly rode roughshod over most of the basic principles on which he had preached to the United Kingdom and Ireland in previous years, first by extending his stay on the board beyond the five or seven year period as recommended in his own report. There are no independent directors of the banks. It is a club. At least, the Labour Party amendment seeks to get people in. The boards should be dissolved and reconstituted by decent people. This is an indication of the way things go on that point.