Before we deal with item No. 8 on the agenda, I wish to deal with an item of business arising from our meeting of 6 July. I was contacted by RTE which wishes us to point out that Mr. Tim Dalton's report on certain matters affecting Bord na gCon states at pages 63 and 64:
It is wrong to suggest that Mr Tynan's dismissal can be put down simply to the fact that he wrote a letter to the Minister dated 18th January '06 about the Board's integrity management procedures, (EPO etc.). Relations between the Board and Mr. Tynan had been worsening steadily well before that time, for reasons that had nothing to do with integrity management procedures. It isn't true either, however, to say that the letter to the Minister was totally irrelevant. Board members were clearly incensed by its content and by the interpretation put upon it. This undoubtedly brought relations between the Board and the Chief Executive to a new low and almost certainly hastened the Board's decision to dismiss him — the minutes of the Board meeting of 26th January (at which Mr Tynan was dismissed) show clearly that his letter to the Minister was a factor in the decision to dismiss him forthwith.
We will now proceed to item No. 8.