Do as we say not as we do at Central Bank

Taoiseach Enda Kenny might stand charged of gender bias in the selection of John McNulty for a Seanad byelection but his colleague Michael Noonan can't be accused of ageism.

Last week the Minister for Finance reappointed Mike Soden, who is 67, and Des Geraghty, who is 70, to the Central Bank Commission. Both were given five-year terms.

These are one year longer than the original terms Soden and Geraghty were asked to serve when they were appointed in 2010 by the late finance minister Brian Lenihan.

The commission was set up that year following the carnage of the financial crash. Noonan, who is 71, obviously places great store in the wisdom that age and experience brings.

However, their appointments raise a couple of interesting points. There was no public announcement or fanfare about their term renewals last week. As of yesterday, the Central Bank’s own website hadn’t been updated to reflect the fact that Soden and Geraghty were being given another spin around the track.

It could be argued that their selections were at variance with good corporate governance practices. The UK Corporate Governance Code, which is applied by the Irish Stock Exchange, states that all directors of FTSE 350 companies should be subject to annual election by shareholders.

“All other directors should be subject to election by shareholders at the first annual general meeting after their appointment, and to re-election thereafter at intervals of no more than three years,” it adds.

The Central Bank has certain oversight functions with the Irish Stock Exchange.

The Central Bank’s own code of corporate governance for credit institutions states that they “shall review board membership at least once every three years” and that “all directors should be submitted for re-election at regular intervals”.

The composition of the Central Bank Commission is a different matter altogether, being entirely in the gift of the Government. A case of do as I say rather than do as I do, some might say.