FSAI Board Meeting Minutes 17th September 2024

Present

• Ms Ann Horan (AH) (Chair)
• Mr Patrick Knight (PK)
• Prof Martin Cormican (P. MC) Online
• Ms Lisa Manselli (LM) 
• Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan (CFN)
• Mr Gerard McCurdy (GMcC)
• Prof Francis Butler (FB)
• Ms Eilis O’Brien (EOB)

In attendance

• Dr Pamela Byrne (PB), Chief Executive
• Mr Kevin Roantree (KR), Board Secretary
• Dr Wayne Anderson (WA), Director of Food Science and Standards
• Ms Gillian McNamara (GMcN), Programme Manager (item 5)
• Ms Aisling Wright (AW), HR Executive (item 9)
• Ms Susan  Kelly (SB), Odgers Berndtson (Item 9)
• Ms Kate McCormack (KMcC), Odgers Berndtson (Item 9)
• Mr Joe McQuaid (JMcQ), Finances Manager (Item 10.1)
• Ms Vanessa Cooling (VC), Enforcement Policy Executive (Item 10.7)
• Ms Áine Brady (ÁB), PA to Director of Food Science and Standards

Apologies

None

The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting and noted the attendance of Wayne Anderson, Director of Food Science and Standards who was joining in an observational capacity and Áine Brady to take minutes in Fiona Dwyer’s absence. 

The Chair informed the Board that since the last meeting in June she has been working with the CEO on a number of items including the Annual Report and Periodic Critical Review. 

The Chair and CEO also had a meeting with the DoH on 4th July.   The main purpose of this meeting was to present the new Statement of Strategy and to answer questions and receive feedback.  Other items discussed were the request for approval to recruit a new CEO, the memo to Government in relation to the LAVs transfer to DAFM and the appointment of Directors under the PAS system.   FSAI had put the relationship with the Department on the agenda and the Chair expressed her view that this works very well at an operational level but possibly less so at the more strategic level.  Department representatives acknowledged this and proposed that they meet formally with the CEO and Chair of the FSAI at least once a year.  It was agreed that this was the first such meeting and that another meeting would be scheduled before the end of the year.

The Chair further advised that she had contact with the Department of Health in relation to the recruitment of new directors under the PAS system.  The two current director vacancies are due to be advertised on publicjobs.ie on 7th October.

The Chair gave an overview of the agenda and advised that attendees would join the meeting as follows:
(i)    Ms Gillian McNamara (GMcN), Programme Manager (item 5)
(ii)    Ms Aisling Wright (AW), HR Executive (Item 9)
(iii)    Ms Susan Kelly (SB), Odgers Berndtson (Item 9)
(iv)    Ms Kate McCormack (KMcC), Odgers Berndtson (Item 9)    
(v)    Mr Joe McQuaid (JMcQ), Finances Manager (Item 10.1)
(vi)    Ms Vanessa Cooling (VC), Enforcement Policy Executive (Item 10.7)

1. Declarations of Interest

There were no disclosures made by Board members. 

2. Minutes of the last meeting: 17 June 2024

The Board approved the minutes of 17 June 2024 as tabled subject to the acceptance of an amendment from PMC.   It was noted that Scientific Committee reports will be circulated to the Board for information and for decision on whether to publish.

3. Matters arising 

KR provided an update on open actions from the minutes of the 17 June 2024:  

Actions update:
1.    Vanessa Cooling will join the meeting today in relation to the lessons learned report regarding the Albania Project.
2.    The AI presentation will take place after the next Board meeting in October, Fiona to organise. 
3.    An update was provided in the CEO report on the monk fruit decoctions case.
4.    An update was provided on the Annual Report in the CEO report.
5.    GMcC will give an update in relation to the status of the procurement audit report under Audit and Risk Committee Update. 
6.    An update was provided on LAVS in the CEO report.

4. CEO Report

The Chair advised that the document would be taken as read. The CEO acknowledged the work of her colleagues in the SLT who prepared the report in her absence. The CEO responded to the comments and questions received on the following aspects of her report:

Sections A to E (Public Health) 

It has been a busy period with the number of outbreaks FSAI have been involved in, however this is to be expected now given advances in Whole Genome Sequencing and the ability to link human cases of illness with food businesses through food or environment samples taken at individual premises. PMC gave an update on the national laboratory system of routine sequencing of the bacteria from all human cases of salmonella and listeria.   Cliodhna noted that the HSE Public Health, DAFM and HPSC all work collaboratively with the FSAI to identify and manage salmonella and listeria outbreaks.

Section F (LAVs)

There are concerns that need to be carefully managed during and after the transition. FSAI are working with DAFM to transfer the service over by 1 December. FSAI have requested to do this by 1 November as the service contract currently in place ends on 31 October. 

TD Michael Fitzmaurice raised a number of technical issues in relation to small slaughterhouses to the CEO and a meeting was arranged.  One of the issues discussed was the fear of some of the small business owners going out of business. To address the concerns of small business owners, it was suggested to improve the level of consultation by holding a town hall meeting with DAFM, to meet business owners. The Artisan Forum and the Food Safety Consultative Council could be involved in this meeting. 

Section I (DG Santé Audits) 

FSAI’s management of the programme will be built into the 2025 business plan. 

Section J (Resources)

Contracts have been signed for the new HR Manager with a start date of 15 October 2024. 

Action: The HR Manager will be invited to join a future Board Meeting. 

Strategy 3 Year Implementation Plan

The plan is being prepared and will be on the agenda for the Board meeting in October.  

Action: The Strategy 3 Year Implementation Plan will be included as an agenda item for the next meeting in October. 

Upcoming events

Board members won’t be invited to the conference in October as it is specific for food safety inspectors, but they will continue to be made aware of relevant future events. 

5. Periodic Critical Review (PCR)

Gill McNamara joined the meeting

The Chair thanked GMcN for the comprehensive report and her work in representing the FSAI on the PCR project team.  GMcN advised that as part of their stakeholder engagement, Indecon had undertaken an online survey of FSAI staff.  To date, the response rate has been high and Indecon are finding the responses to be helpful.  

The Chair attended 2 meetings of the Steering group since the last Board meeting. A third meeting is scheduled for 24 October when they will review the draft report. The final report is due to be sent to the Minister for Health in November and is likely to be published. 

As part of their review, Indecon interviewed the Chair and CEO, they also engaged with them in relation to developing questionnaires for engagement with other stakeholders.   Indecon also interviewed PMC as Chair of the Scientific Committee as well as the SLT, without the CEO in attendance. 

The Chair reported that at the last Steering Group meeting on 12 September, a number of emerging themes were identified by Indecon. They were as follows:

1.   Detailed documentation available to inform the objectives of the PCR process
2.  Governance structures in place appear appropriate
3.  Some reliance in FSAI on contracted staff to fulfil day-to-day business requirements
4.  Growing importance of a data-centric approach to FSAI’s and the official agencies 
5.  Transfer of LAVS to DAFM seen as a positive
6.  Emerging important issues relate to role of FSAI in relation to nutrition and sustainability

The Steering Group has had some discussion in relation to the FSAI Act but any proposed changes to the legislation would be a matter for consideration after the PCR has been completed. 

The Chair thanked the Board members that have already completed the Indecon Board survey and encouraged anyone who hadn’t to try and get it completed by the deadline of 18th September.   She reminded Board members that their responses are confidential and that views expressed should be their own.

Gill McNamara left the meting 

6. Enforcement Orders

The schedule of recent Enforcement Orders was noted by Board members. 

Board members formed an impression that the names of food businesses subject to enforcement orders suggest a link to Asian food in a significant proportion of cases. The Executive will consider opportunities to enhance accessibility of supports to all food businesses.

7. Board Workplan 2024

There are 2 ARC and 2 Board meetings remaining in 2024.  The workplan is on schedule with the exception of 2 items which had to be postponed until October to allow for the unscheduled meeting with Odgers Berndtson at this meeting. 

The Chair advised that Fiona Dwyer will circulate the proposed Board, ARC and PRC meeting dates for next year.  She requested that all Board members respond and indicate as early as possible if they have difficulty with any of the proposed dates.   We are aiming as always for full attendance.

The Chair, CEO and Board Secretary will start the process of planning the work schedule for 2025 in the coming weeks.

8. Break

9. Odgers Berndtson meeting Board without Executive present 

Susan Kelly, Kate McCormack and Aisling Wright (FSAI HR) joined the meeting.

The purpose of this session was to offer Odgers Berndtson’s representatives an opportunity to engage with Board members and to get a clear idea of what type of Chief Executive the Board is ideally seeking.  This agenda item was a private session. 

Susan Kelly, Kate McCormack and Aisling Wright left the meeting. 

10. Governance Matters

10.1 Finance and Governance Update

Joe McQuaid joined the meeting. 

The document will be discussed at the ARC meeting next week in more detail. KR gave an overview of key areas of the paper. Following discussion, the Board approved signing the bank mandate to remove the retired HR manager from the document and update this document with the new HR Manager once appointed. The Board will review the budget for 2025 at the December meeting in line with the draft business plan. 

Joe McQuaid left the meeting. 

10.2 Audit and Risk Committee Update

GMcC provided a verbal report on the meeting with BDO on the Procurement Audit which was held on 11 July.   All BDO recommendations were agreed by the Executive except for one which will need further consideration and would involve a move away from decentralised responsibility for procurement.   The Executive and BDO have proposed a new 9-point plan to improve engagement and communications for future audits.  This will be presented to the ARC and will be discussed further at the next Board meeting. The next ARC meeting is on 24 September which the Board Chair will attend on a temporary basis until a new Director with appropriate skills is appointed to the Board and subsequently to the ARC. 

10.3 Risk and Opportunities Register – Noted

This was noted and will be discussed at next week’s ARC meeting. 

10.4 Scientific Committee Update – Paper on the suitability of analytical methods for assessing food authenticity

PMC gave a summary of the report. The report outlines some of the new or modified analytical techniques available but not included in current Official Controls which may be of use in assessing the authenticity of food. The report indicates specific or general analytical controls and criteria required to ensure that the results obtained are reliable and reproducible.  The report also emphasises that, to be fit for purpose, laboratory techniques and their application must incorporate various critical controls at the sampling, processing and analysis stages.

PMC reminded Board that the role of the Board is to decide as to publication or not of the opinion of the Scientific Committee and that the Scientific Committee is responsible for the content of the opinion. 

The Board approved the report for publication.

10.5 Performance and Remuneration Committee Update  

The main purpose of the PRC is to set goals and undertake performance appraisals for the CEO.  The details of these meetings are confidential but the Committee also has a responsibility to report back to the Board.
Starting in 2024, the agenda and minutes but not the tabled documents of these regular meetings will be uploaded to the Board App.

In recent months, the PRC has also been involved in managing the process for the selection of the new CEO and has held special purposes meetings in this regard.

The Committee met 3 times since the last Board meeting.  The meetings on 17th June and 8th August were special purpose meetings and the minutes of these meetings are held in the HR Department due to the confidential nature of the task.

The Committee also met on 28th August and the main agenda item for this meeting was to undertake an interim performance review with the CEO.  The meeting was positive and the Committee concluded by thanking the CEO for her achievement year to date and for her ongoing focus on performance.   The minutes of this meeting will be uploaded to the Board App once they have been approved at the next PRC meeting.

10.6 Board Induction Manual 

The Chair thanked Fiona Dwyer for her work on this document. This is an initiative arising from the Board Effectiveness survey. There was discussion in relation to the manual and the following was agreed:

• ARC and PRC terms of reference should be included in the diagram.
• There should be a link to the FSAI Act with some legislation and some company policies.
• Show the Board Secretary on the organisational structure. 
• PK to send comments for consideration to KR.
• Remove the last section in relation to e-mailing passwords. 
• The Chair and the CEO should meet with newly appointed Board Members.

10.7     Presentation on Albania Project

Vanessa Cooling joined the meeting.

Vanessa introduced herself and gave the background on how she became involved in the project. Vanessa presented the following to the Board in relation to the project:

• Some facts about Albania
• Objective & Results
• Strengthening food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary systems
• Key stakeholders
• Learnings

There was a discussion in relation to future projects and how FSAI can benefit from them.   Key learnings from the project are that (1) we need to get more involved at the early project planning stage and (2) there will be a draw on resources across the organisation and this needs to be taken into account when considering whether to get involved and (3) the intangible benefits including network building and staff experiences should not be underestimated.  The Chair thanked Vanessa for presenting to the Board. 

Vanessa Cooling left the meeting. 

11. AOB

There were no items under AOB. 

12. Board Private Session

The Board held a private session. As part of the private session, the Board agreed a proposal to commence a recruitment campaign whereby FSAI staff would be invited to apply for the role of Board Secretary for an 11-month period after which a review would be completed.   It was noted that the successful candidate, approved by the Board (in compliance with the Code of Practice), would be supported by the existing Board Secretary and the change was to facilitate an appropriate balance of duties while focusing on ensuring Board effectiveness.

The meeting concluded at 1.00pm.

Date of next meeting: 22nd October 2024.

FSAI Board Actions: September 2024

There were 5 actions closed from the previous meeting on 17 June 2024.

To Note: Actions raised by the Board will be placed into the Actions table and remain there until completed (or removed by request of the Chair). Once an action is completed it will be marked as such for one meeting prior to being removed.