The committee was established by the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, and the Minister for Finance Ray MacSharry.
[1] It was a three-man committee comprising two senior civil servants, Seán Cromien and Bob Curran, and a private sector economist, Colm McCarthy.
It is a mix of Irish and English words, literally meaning "the snip board".
Many state agencies in Ireland have the words an bord (meaning "the board") in their title, for example Bord Iascaigh Mhara (the Irish Sea-Fisheries Board); "snip" refers to the cost-cutting remit of the group.
In 2008 another board with a similar remit was established, referred to as "An Bord Snip Nua".