One wonders about the effectiveness of a board where this level of secrecy is seen as acceptable. Today, their right as individuals to privacy and the right of shareholders as principals to agent-specific information are being pitted against each other. Given the structure of Irish company law and the freedom of information climate, the weight of argument almost certainly favours the shareholder. This is so even if, as one suspects, shareholders have so far given little, if any, thought to what to do with this additional information. There are a number of good reasons why more detailed disclosure about individual directors' remuneration packages is desireable and why the Minister should use company legislation to achieve it.
Disclosure is more effective than other mechanisms in ensuring against over-compensation.
The alternative of relying on a Compensation Committee comprising so called independent non-executive directors is a sham. Ironically, in Ireland, the only group that the independent director is independent of is the shareholder. Non-executive directors are elected by management, owe their continued tenure to management and share the same ideology as management. Disclosure will create a better climate of openness between directors and shareholders leading ultimately to greater trust. Disclosure will increase shareholder activism - something that is in short supply in Irish public companies.