Minutes of the 81st Meeting of the Board of InterTradeIreland, the Trade and Business Development Body.
Tuesday 26th February 2008 - InterTradeIreland Offices, Newry (09:30am-1.00pm)
Present:
Board Members:
Dr David Dobbin CBE Chairman
Mr John Fitzgerald Vice Chairman
Mr Brendan Butler
Mr Ray Doherty
Mr Jack Gilmour
Mr Hugh Logue
Mr Padraig MacLochlainn
Ms Patricia McKeown
Dr Gerard O'Hare
Mr Tom Scott
Executive:
Mr Liam Nellis Chief Executive
Mr Aidan Gough Director, Strategy & Policy
Mr Laurence Lord Corporate Services Director
Ms Catriona Regan Operations Director
Mr Harry Hamill Board Secretary
Apologies.
Apologies were received from Mr Sean Gallagher and Ms Rosaleen Doherty.
Authorisation of Previous Minutes.
The Minutes of the 29th January 2008 Board Meeting were approved by the Board and authorised by the Chairman.
Matters Arising.
Mr Nellis updated the Board on Matters Arising from the January 2008 Board Meeting.
Chairman's Business.
The Chairman reported that he had initiated a round of meetings with InterTradeIreland's major stakeholders, including Ministers Martin and Dodds, the DETI Permanent Secretary Stephen Quinn and the DETE Secretary General Sean Gorman.
The Chairman addressed the matter of Board Member representation on Board Sub-Committees, and Board Member representation was agreed.
Chief Executive's Report.
Mr Nellis presented highlights from his Chief Executive's Report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting. He reported on the following items:
Corporate Services Report.
Accounts.
Mr Lord presented the InterTradeIreland Accounts for January 2008. The Board approved the Accounts.The Board approved extensions to Letters of Offer for the BioMedireland and Halo Business Angel projects.
Communications Update.
The Board noted the update on InterTradeIreland's external communications activity, which included information on editorials, publications, communications activity at project level, current tenders for services and sponsorships.
Mr Lord introduced a sponsorship proposal which had been received from the Irish Business Employers Confederation (IBEC) and the Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA). Mr Gough presented the proposal which requested part-funding of €20,000, inclusive of VAT, in the form of InterTradeIreland sponsorship for the All Island Technology Convergence Conference in June 2008. The Board approved the sponsorship proposal which had been received from the Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA) and the Irish Business Employers Confederation (IBEC) for the 'Meeting of Minds - All Island Technology Convergence Conference' in June 2008.
2008 Business Plan Progress Report.
Mr Gough presented the January 2008 Business Plan Progress Report and Business Plan Commentary, providing detailed information on each project in relation to emerging issues, progress against milestones, expenditure against calendarised budgets, and a budget variance report.
The Board noted the contents of the progress Report.
2007 InterTradeIreland Performance Report.
Mr Gough presented the 2007 Q4 Performance Report, 2007 Q4 Performance Highlights and a 2007 Performance Summary.The reports provided quantitative and qualitative information to describe the organisation's performance against 2007 Business Plan targets. The Board noted the Performance Reports.
Fusion and Acumen.
Fusion.
Ms Regan presented an update on the procurement exercise to appoint a Managing Agent for Fusion Phase III, following on from direction provided by the Board at the 29th January 2008 Board Meeting, and the revised process now being used.
The Board approved the revised budget for Fusion Phase III, and the revised budget and process for the selection of a managing agent.
Acumen.
Ms Regan presented a paper in support of a request to increase the Managing Agent costs for the Acumen II programme. The Board asked for clarification on the total and component costs presented, on the rationale for the requested increase, on value for money anticipated, and on the past performance of the Acumen project. The Board approved the additional expenditure requested.
Any other Business.
None.