Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his willingness to engage on the Bill. I look forward to further engagement on it with him between now and Report Stage. On the issue of a maximum and minimum balance, I believe a balance of more external members and independent members will be crucial to this board having credibility. On the issue of job specifications, I do not think the criteria needs to be overly prescriptive. There will be particular expertise and skills required for this board. As we know, without the necessary expertise in a room, it is often not possible to identify any lack of expertise. I am not suggesting that clear criteria be set out for each of the six to 12 members. I recognise that the membership of the board is set at between six and 12 people in order to provide flexibility to bring in skills as required. I believe there are core skills that will be required on this board and we need to ensure that at least one of the six, ten or 12 members has those skills. We can discuss that further on Report Stage.