David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's response and I fully accept the difference between this board and some other State boards. We obviously have difficulties with short-term vacancies and there will be from time to time on all boards members who are not able to fulfil their duties because of illness, etc. That was not what we were getting at. We had a fear over board positions generally not being filled. Given the Government's track record on this, we believe that the solution is to have a timeframe within which positions should be filled rather than trying to circumvent that by allowing boards to continue to do their work without the full complement of positions being filled. While there is logic to what the Minister has said, regardless of the difference between this board and other boards, generally it would be of value to have a time limit on the filling of vacancies. I will not call for a vote, but I will press the amendment.