The issues addressed in the briefing included; The rationale for committees and sub board structures; the results of a Forum survey on the current position and norms in state and public bodies; the different roles and responsibilities of boards, committees and senior executives; and committee composition and options to address gaps in expertise

*Muiris MacCarthaigh *discussed current practices and recommendations for the establishment and operation of committees in the context of Irish public bodies.

*Paul Turpin *presented the results and the issues arising from the recent survey of committee structures and membership carried out for the Forum.

*Sean Quigley *drew on his recent research on audit committees to discuss what value these committees can bring to an organisation and suggested they should have a broader role in performance measurement in State bodies.

The discussion referred to key characteristics of effective committees as including:

• Clearly articulated and understood terms of reference
• A membership with the appropriate skills and experience
• Periodic evaluation of the Committee’s performance

Download additional documents:

• M MacCarthaigh_Why Committees
• S Quigley_ Role of Audit Committees
• P Turpin_ How Committees add value