Education Minister considered directing EA to accept new chief

Mr Givan held a meeting in early March with the chair of the EA board, Barry Mulholland, and a board member to discuss the interim chief executive post.

Notes of that meeting record that Mr Mulholland had said that some senior roles at the EA were difficult to fill as “the current salary offered was too low.”

Mr Givan disagreed with that view.

The minister said that senior EA posts were difficult to fill “because of the reputational damage caused by successive reviews which suggested that the EA was not functioning as it should,” according to the notes.

“The Minister suggested that he had legal advice that he could direct the EA to accept his proposed appointment,” the notes record.

“He would prefer the EA board to agree to the proposed appointment as this would avoid further reputational damage to the EA and DE and provide a positive context for progress.”

Earlier in the meeting Mr Mulholland had said that the EA board were “challenged” by the minister’s proposal to appoint an interim chief executive.

In an earlier meeting held in February, Mr Givan had asked the board to pause their own internal recruitment process for the role.