Seanad debates

Wednesday, 25 April 2012

11:00 am

Photo of Susan O'KeeffeSusan O'Keeffe (Labour)

Obviously, it was the wrong day to do that.

I commend the Institute of Directors on the report it released today on appointments to State boards. It is interesting that almost half of those appointed are appointed because they know about it, either through word of mouth or with contact with the Minister or the Minister's office. Obviously, this is of concern. It is the case that we would like to see all of these appointments made through public advertisement and through proper public interview.

Of more concern is the finding that directors themselves consider there is not enough communication from Ministers and that Ministers do not outline their long-term vision for what they want the board to do. That is coming from those who sit on State boards. This is a concern. If one adds to that the fact that the directors think that the skills mix on the board is wrong, and that at the outset 40% of them believe that the skills requirements were not outlined to them when they took up the job, obviously there is a big deficit in the State boards at a time when we need State boards to work even harder.

At least the Institute of Directors has done the work. I commend it for that and for pointing out the difficulties that are there. I want to ask for a debate on this matter and the associated specific point the institute made at the end of its report, which is that it believes that directors on State boards are not paid well enough. The Institute of Directors' chief executive, Ms Maura Quinn, stated today that she believes that they should be paid well. I suspect that within this House there would be quite a level of disagreement as to how that pay should be given to directors who work in this capacity. I would call for a debate on that matter and on the appointment of directors to State boards.

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