Sir, - Clearly The Irish Times performed an important public service in breaking the story about the national aquatic centre. Arthur Beesley reports (March 11th) that "the functions of chairman and chief executive would be separated. Both positions are jointly held by Mr Paddy Teahon, former secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach". Why was it ever considered a bright idea that one man, even a man as distinguished as Mr Teahon, should be both chairman and chief executive of Campus and Stadium Ireland Development?
Arthur Beesley continues: "The Dáil Committee of Public Accounts was said to be seeking a meeting about the affair". Although this may be the first time the committee has considered the national aquatic centre controversy, it will not be the first time the committee has considered the most effective method of managing an organisation. The committee, in its final DIRT report, recommended that: "The roles of chairman and chief executive at the Office of the Revenue Commissioners be separated". It also recommended that there should be "three executive and three non-executive directors and that the chairman be drawn from the non-executive directors".
Before arriving at those recommendations Thomas Considine, Secretary General at the Department of Finance, was asked by Jim Mitchell TD: ". . . have you not had regard to the ample precedents there are elsewhere in the public service? For instance, the commercial and indeed non-commercial semi-state bodies have chairmen and have chief executives. The chairmen are mostly and almost invariably non-executive chairmen."
Of course nobody is claiming that simply having a separate chairman and chief executive solves all problems. However it is easy for the chairman and chief executive to agree that they are both doing a great job if both jobs are held by the same man. Can we learn from past mistakes and can we introduce an obligation on any organisation which handles large amounts of taxpayers' money to have a separate chairman and chief executive on its board of directors? - Yours, etc.,
JOSEPH MARRON,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.