Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
620. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Transport the changes, if any, he intends to make to shareholder oversight, escalation protocols or performance evaluation of boards within commercial State bodies under his remit to prevent a recurrence of prolonged and costly executive governance disputes of this nature. [75152/25]
View answerThere are 12 commercial State bodies under the aegis of the Department of Transport, governed by the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies 2016 (The Code), and designated under the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act 2014. For commercial State bodies the oversight agreement between the relevant Minister and the State body is the Shareholder Letter of Expectation (SLOE).
The specific objectives outlined in this SLOE, are based on a template provided by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and should be considered in the context of the Government’s overall policy objectives for the agency, with a view to assisting the Board in its operations and in complying with its obligations under the prevailing governance framework.
In accordance with the Code, the delivery of good governance standards across all aspects of the commercial State bodies is primarily a matter for the board, with my Department providing oversight to ensure good governance is achieved across a broad range of activities.
As required under the Code, the Board of each agency carries out internal self-assessment reviews of its own performance and that of its Board committees on an annual basis. The Chairperson should act on the results of the performance evaluation by addressing any weaknesses identified through the Board self-assessment evaluation. An external evaluation should be carried out at least every 3 years. There is no obligation on the board to present these reviews to my Department.
