asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether Mr. McElligott, who is conducting the inquiry into the affairs of Jordan and Company, of Ennis, is the same person as Mr. McElligott who was Prices Controller; and, if so, whether the Minister will appoint some other person to conduct the inquiry.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Inquiry into Industrial Company's Affairs.
Mr. McElligott did not hold the position of Controller of Prices as established by Section 15 of Control of Prices Act, 1937. He was, for a period, Chairman of the Prices Commission set up under that Act. As the Deputy is probably aware, however, it was decided that in matters of price control reliance should be placed, for the duration of the emergency, on the powers conferred by the Emergency Powers Acts and consequently the Prices Commission has not functioned for that purpose for some time past. Mr. McElligott has been appointed to conduct the inquiry under the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908, into the affairs of Messrs. L. Jordan, Limited, Ennis. I am satisfied that he is a competent and proper person to conduct the inquiry in question.
Arising out of the Minister's reply, while no one will question the competence or the integrity of Mr. McElligott, is it not true that, if Mr. McElligott were to find that Messrs. Jordan & Company had made excess profits during the period when he, Mr. McElligott, was Chairman of the Prices Commission, that would amount to finding that Mr. McElligott and the Prices Commission had failed effectively to discharge their duties, and in those circumstances is it reasonable to ask Mr. McElligott to inquire into this situation? Should not an independent party inquire into the situation, so that Mr. McElligott and his colleagues, and such other parties as may have any light to throw on the affairs of Messrs. Jordan & Company, now under investigation, might give evidence before them?
So far as the Prices Commission is concerned, its powers and functions were clearly set out in the Control of Prices Act to which I have referred the Deputy. Since the beginning of the emergency, responsibility for anything done or not done in the matter of price control is mine only.
Is it not true that on many occasions in Dáil Eireann I drew the attention of the Minister to the fact that Messrs. Jordan and Co. were charging excessive prices, and that he quoted the Prices Commission, of which Mr. McElligott was chairman, as his guarantee that they were not charging excessive prices? Is it reasonable now to establish the chairman of that Prices Commission as the judicial authority to determine whether in fact Messrs. Jordan and Co. were charging excessive prices or not during the period when he was charged with the task of supervising them? That amounts to asking a man to act as judge and jury in his own case, and that is utterly unreasonable and absurd.