Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I will speak in general terms. Senator O'Donovan is correct as the matter arises in section 11. Sections 8 and 11 refer to State commercial port companies and not regional harbour boards and are concerned with reducing the number of board members from 12 to eight in port companies. The port companies are the only State commercial bodies with such statutory representation at present. The 1996 Act provides for port company boards to consist of 12 directors. The 2001 performance audit and the 2003 high-level review of State commercial ports recommended a reduction in the number of directors on port company boards. Having 12 members is considered excessive, even for the largest of port companies. In some of the smaller port companies, this number is more than the total number of employees.