Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, to delete line 35 and substitute the following:"(3) The chairperson of the Board shall be democratically elected by the members of the Board.".

Sinn Féin indicated on Second Stage that it would be bringing forward an amendment to this section. This amendment stems from the fact, as alluded to earlier by Senator Norris, that while section 8 provides for the independence of the National Concert Hall, section 10 provides that the board and the chairperson of the NCH are to be appointed by the Minister. This amendment proposes the deletion of line 35, page 7, and the substitution of the following: "The chairperson of the Board shall be democratically elected by the members of the Board." We do not believe the Minister should have any major issue with this because, as provided for in the Bill, she will have appointed all of the members of the board.Surely they would be people of high standing and great integrity who would be respected and who would have it within their ability to appoint somebody suitable from within their own ranks at the first board meeting, or whichever board meeting suits, to the position of chair. We all know the chair is the real driving force of any board and it is important to know who is that driving force. From having served on the boards of voluntary groups and organisations ourselves, we can see that some people have a flair for it and others do not. If there are a number of people on a board in that type of scenario, they are the ones best placed to pick the person they feel will drive this project forward.

We put forward the amendment in good faith. We think it is important in terms of ensuring that our key national cultural institutions maintain a degree of independence and that they are free from excessive political influence. At the least, the Minister or any subsequent Minister would not be accused of interfering or dictating who would be the chair. I believe it is a fair and straightforward amendment and I hope the Minister will accept it in good faith.