The semi-state sector is a fiasco and no director should consider sitting on a semi-State board, businessman Mr Denis O'Brien said yesterday.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Institute of Directors on corporate governance, Mr O'Brien said: "Anybody would be out of their mind to go on a State board at the moment when you have executives being hired and removed on very, very thin grounds.

"You've got media comment and you've got political interference. When you get all of those things together, it's very, very stark."

There was a need to eliminate semi-State companies completely, he said, adding that the business community had been reticent about making its views on the subject known to politicians.

On directors' remuneration, Mr O'Brien said non-executive directors should receive options.

"Directors are allowed to own shares, and in this no one has any problems. Why should options be any different from owning a basket of shares? If independence is lost by options, it is equally lost by having shares," he added.

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