asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that a member of the Irish Tourist Board made a statement at the annual meeting of the County Wicklow Hotels Association on the 16th January, 1952, in which he attacked certain Dublin hotel and restaurant employers for having settled with their staffs; if he is further aware that the speaker made statements on the occasion mentioned reflecting on the trade union involved in the dispute with the Hotel and Restaurant Association; and, if so, whether, in view of the public position held by this individual, the Minister will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Hotel and Restaurant Dispute.
I have no information other than that given in the Press reports of the meeting to which the Deputy has referred. The gentleman concerned is actively engaged in hotel operation and his membership of the Irish Tourist Board is on a part-time basis. The Irish Tourist Board, as such, has no function in the matter of relations between hoteliers and their employees. It does not appear that the member concerned spoke as a member of the board or attempted to convey that the views expressed by him were shared by the board. In these circumstances, I do not consider that I am obliged to take official notice of his remarks.
Does not the Minister think that other hotels will have no confidence in a member of the board who would make such slanderous statements about them? I am sure that the Minister would not approve of them either.
The member in question is not a member of the Tourist Board as a representative of other hotels.
He is a member of the board making certain regulations for a number of hoteliers whom he has charged in this way. In view of that, would not the Minister consider that his statement was most injudicious, and will mean that no outside association will have any confidence in him?