THE NUMBER of company directorships held by one person should be limited to between three and five, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said yesterday.
Mr Gilmore said the number of directorships held would depend on the size of the companies and the types of activity they are engaged in.
He said the practice of holding cross-directorships had become part of the Irish business culture and was unhealthy.
He also said Labour wanted a maximum term for directors of seven years and an end to practices whereby one person is both chief executive and chairman of a company.
“You sit on my board and I will sit on yours. It’s part of a cosy relationship that exists,” he said. Mr Gilmore was speaking at the launch of his party’s policy document aimed at improving standards in business and public life.
The principal new policy is the call for a new Irish banking commission that would be charged with reforming the Irish banking sector, by having the final say on board appointments and senior executive positions, as well as setting remunerations and vetting business plans.
The party spokesman acknowledged that placing such severe restrictions on cross-directorships, limiting them to three, might also affect the former party leader Dick Spring.
“Once it is introduced it will apply to everybody, even to former leaders of the party,” said the spokesman.
Mr Spring, who retired from politics in 2002, is a non-executive director of AIB. He is also executive vice-chairman of the Killorglin-based Fexco Holdings Ltd; and a director of Altobridge Ltd and Alder Capital Ltd. He is also a director of the waste-recycling initiative Repak.
Outlining the eight-point document, Mr Gilmore said that international confidence in Ireland had been severely damaged as a result of “crony capitalism”.
Other measures proposed by the party include clampdowns on land speculation; lower spending and donation limits for political parties; the regulation of political lobbying, and new whistleblowers legislation.
The party has also called for more powers to Dáil committees to allow them stronger oversight and investigative roles.
The powers of committees have been curtailed since the Supreme Court ruled that a committee investigating the shooting dead of John Carthy in Abbeylara did not have the authority to make findings in relation to persons who were not members of the Oireachtas.
The party has called for all fees for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to be abolished.
Wexford TD Brendan Howlin said Labour had “unfinished business” to complete since it was last in government over a decade ago.
He said the party had brought forward three major pieces of legislation then: the Electoral Act; the Freedom of Information Act; and the legislation that set up the Standards in Public Office Commission. “Some of those provisions have been rowed back since then.”
Mr Howlin said the party wanted to significantly reduce the maximum limit for donations to politicians and political parties and also wanted to reduce the thresholds of disclosure. He said these measures would send a strong political message.
He and the party’s North West candidate Susan O’Keeffe pointed to whistleblowers’ and lobbyist legislation brought forward by the party but on which the Government had not acted. Ms O’Keeffe said the introduction of fees for FOI requests had led to a substantial reduction in the use of the Act.
