Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Finance the number of meetings officials in his Department have had with public interest directors of Irish Banks in 2011 and to date in 2012; when the next such meetings are due; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52475/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The primary duty and responsibility of the public interest directors as well as all the other directors is to ensure that the institution on whose board they serve is run properly and appropriately. The responsibility of public interest directors under company law is to the institution on whose board they serve. Public interest directors do not have a formal reporting relationship to the Minister or to the Department of Finance.

My officials don’t specifically meet with public interest directors appointed to the covered institutions but the public interest directors have attended meetings with officials from my Department in 2011 and 2012. I am not aware of any meeting currently scheduled between the public interest directors and officials in my Department. However officials from my Department meet with Senior Management of the covered banks on a monthly basis to discuss the achievement of their Business Plans. This is a provision of the Relationship Frameworks agreed with the covered banks. Copies of the Relationship Frameworks can be found at:

As Minister for Finance, I am strongly committed to ensuring that the boards of the covered institutions act at all times in a manner fully consistent with key public interest objectives for the banking sector.