Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State's decision in respect of local authority members. He did not go as far as I suggested on Committee Stage, namely, that it should be specifically stated that a local authority member should be included on the board. However, I welcome the fact that local authority members will not be excluded from the board.

I am concerned with regard to the composition of the board and the fact that there can be up to 20 members thereof. Various items of legislation that are supposed to represent Government policy have been dealt with by the House in recent months. In the Harbours (Amendment) Bill, for example, the number of directors on a commercial port company is being reduced from 12 to eight because it is considered that a board comprising 12 members is too unwieldy. There are 17 members on the board of FÁS and we are now suggesting that there can be a maximum of 20 on the board of the charities regulatory authority.

Does the Government have a policy regarding the membership of boards of this nature or does it just make it up as it goes? It appears that 20 is a large number of members for any board. I stated in respect of the Harbours (Amendment) Bill that reducing the number of members from 12 to eight was a step too far because it will be local authority members who will suffer.

We should take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland because they have provided a wonderful service and carried out their duties in an exemplary manner for many years. I am a trustee of the Holy Ghost Hospital in Waterford. Whenever we had to engage in financial dealings or sell any of our properties, we were obliged to obtain permission for doing so from the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland. They always dealt with us properly and in the best interests of the trust when approached. It would be remiss of us not to pay tribute to the commissioners and thank them for the service they provided over the years. I hope some of them will be appointed as members of the new board when it is established because they have built up a vast store of knowledge in this area.

I am of the view that a board with 20 members is probably too large. If fewer members were appointed, it would be possible to appoint sub-committees. In addition, such sub-committees could be made up of professionals from outside the board. However, appointing boards with 20 members is taking matters too far and smacks of a "there is one for everyone in the audience" approach. I am somewhat concerned with regard to this matter.