The following is the statement issued by the board of Bord na Mona after yesterday's board meeting
THE chairman of Bord na Mona, Mr Pat Dineen, said that Dr Eddie O'Connor had only finally met the auditors, Price Waterhouse, late last evening despite repeated requests over the past two or three weeks, and therefore it was not possible for Price Waterhouse to complete the review of Dr O'Connor's remuneration package in its entirety before now.
The board was still very unhappy with several of the facets of the remuneration package of Dr O'Connor since his appointment as chief executive in 1987 and would be requesting him to reconcile his remuneration package with the terms of his appointment (1987 and 1992) and Government directives from time to time. Both the managing director and the company were, as a matter of course, kept updated frequently on Government guidelines in relation to remuneration and expenses applying to the semi state sector.
Mr Dineen said that the board had to deal with a very difficult situation and were bending over backwards to be fair to Dr O'Connor, giving him as much time as was reasonably necessary to deal with the matter.
"My only concern in this issue is to protect the interests of Bord na Mona and the taxpayer. That is my function as chairman and that is my only role in this affair. Whilst it may be a tedious process I intend to discharge my duties in a fair and balanced way.
"When I took over as chairman of Bord na Mona late last year, items which were perceived to be irregularities were brought to my attention."
"I discontinued such practices immediately and at my instigation the board requested the company's auditors to report on the situation.
"There is grave public disquiet that, in the instance of Bord na Mona, public pay scales in relation to the remuneration of the managing director do not appear to have been conformed with", Mr Dineen said.
He said that he and the board had tried to deal with the issue in a balanced and measured way. He himself had their support in dealing with a most unsatisfactory situation.
A special board meeting has been called for Monday when the matter will be further considered. The chairman said he was confident that any outstanding issues would be clarified at or prior to the meeting and that the board could then hopefully reach its conclusion on the matter.
The former chairman of Bord na Mona, Mr Brendan Halligan attended part of today's board meeting.
To avoid any further confusion in the media, Mr Dineen will make no further comment.