Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 31:

In page 38, line 22, to delete "4 years" and substitute "3 years".

These amendments relate to the tenure of the board. Amendment No. 31 seeks to reduce the board's term of office from four years to three years. Amendment No. 32 seeks to amend section 44(9) of the Bill so that instead of providing that a member of the board "may not serve more than 2 consecutive terms", it will provide that a member of the board "may not serve consecutive terms". Amendment No. 34 seeks to provide that any vacancy which arises "will be immediately filled" without any overlap where a member would be allowed to continue on the board indefinitely without being replaced, which is something that has happened with the Irish Greyhound Board in the past. If such structures are allowed to exist, it makes for poor corporate governance. I ask the Minister of State to consider amendment No. 33 in particular.

If the Minister does not intervene after a vacancy arises, board members who have served a greater length of time than that set out in the legislation will remain in their position. That was one of the contentions addressed by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which made this recommendation to deal with that issue.