David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I strongly support Senator Ó Clochartaigh on this. It seems the members of the board will be people who are professionally qualified and who have a keen practical and immediate working knowledge of the arts, so they are eminently qualified to make the decision. There is always the possibility that a Minister, although not this Minister in particular, may make a political decision. There was a lot of rubbish talked when I objected to the fact that Members of Seanad Éireann are excluded from membership as a result of a possible conflict of interests. There could just as easily be a conflict of interests in the Minister making an appointment because he or she might appoint a political hack. Ernest Blythe was famous for doing that with the Abbey Theatre, so much so that he practically destroyed it.

I do not agree with this. It also means the board will start off from a weak position. The first thing that happens is the power of appointment of the chairman is removed from the board. I have served on a number of boards and it was always the responsibility of the board to elect the chairman. To have the chairman appointed by the Minister is a negation of this fundamental democratic principle. Unless there is some unsuspected and serious reason the Minister feels she needs to nominate the chairman, I think she would do well to take Senator Ó Clochartaigh's amendment on board.