The chairmanship of the Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) that owns just under 30 per cent of Eircom may be offered to a professional outside director, according to the general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, Mr Steve Fitzpatrick.
The post was previously held by his predecessor, Mr Con Scanlon. However, Mr Scanlon came in for considerable criticism over his multiplicity of roles at Eircom and the potential conflicts of interest that arose.
As well as his positions with the ESOT and the CWU - which is the largest union in Eircom - he was also the deputy chairman of the company.
Mr Fitzpatrick said there was "no certainty" that he would take up the post, saying that the union had been damaged under his predecessor. "There is no doubt the union got damaged. I think, at the end of the day, there were some conflicts of interest," he added.
Mr Scanlon resigned from his position with the CWU and the ESOT chairmanship in the wake of the company's reflotation in March. The level of payments to Mr Scanlon revealed in the flotation documentation sparked criticism from inside the CWU and the wider trade union movement.
While he held his three roles, Mr Scanlon negotiated a pension worth €1 million over 10 years and a lump sum of €230,000. He also received shares worth €580,000 at the time of the flotation and was paid €106,000 a year by Eircom in addition to his salary as secretary general of the CWU.
His resignation as chairman of the ESOT followed a corporate governance review that looked at his roles among other issues.
He has assumed the newly created role of general manager of the ESOT and will remain as deputy chairman of Eircom. In future, however, the salary associated with this position will be paid to the ESOT in recognition that the deputy chairmanship is an ESOT appointee.
The ESOT trustees can nominate two directors to the Eircom board, one of whom is the deputy chairman, as long as the ESOT's shareholding stays above a certain threshold.
The ESOT in turn has seven trustees. Four are appointed by the union coalition and two by the company; the last trustee is an independent professional. Mr Fitzpatrick said he had to decide whether to take up the chairmanship. "There is no certainty, I would say, that it is me who will take up the position," he added.
