I move:
That Dáil Éireann hereby confirms the Transport Act, 1950 (Additional Powers) Order, 1961.
The Order will not come into operation unless and until it has been confirmed by Resolution of each House of the Oireachtas.
The purpose of the Order is to confer on C.I.E. the power necessary to establish a subsidiary company to take over, operate and develop the Board's Great Southern hotels and catering services. The new company will be a private company set up under the Companies Acts and will have a share capital of £100,000 divided into 100,000 shares of £1 each. All of this capital will be taken up by C.I.E. The number of directors will be not more than six and the remuneration will be subject to my approval and the consent of the Minister for Finance. The Board of C.I.E may appoint not more than three of themselves to be directors of the new company as well as the Chairman; the appointment of the remaining directors will be subject to my approval. The Chairman of C.I.E. for the time being, will be Chairman of the company.
The Memorandum and Articles of Association of the new company and any alterations therein will be subject to my approval, but they cannot be finalised or the new company set up until the Oireachtas has approved this Order. The name of the new company, which will be in Irish, has not been finally settled, but the Board intend to continue the use of the name Great Southern Hotels to which very valuable goodwill attaches. The report and accounts of the company will be presented annually to the Oireachtas.
The new company will take over the seven Great Southern hotels by way of conveyance or lease. It will also take over the Board's Hotels' Department Headquarters at 141 Thomas Street, Dublin. In addition the company will operate the various catering services at present provided by the Board on dining cars, at station refreshment rooms, at Busarus, on the Aran steamer and Shannon pleasure boats.
The extent of the business undertaken by these hotels and services can be judged from the figures quoted in the Board's financial accounts for recent years. For the year ended 31st March, 1960, receipts from the hotels and refreshment services totalled £885,000 whereas expenditure, including provision for superannuation, amounted to £824,000 in the same year. In the year ended 31st March, 1961, receipts amounted to £991,000 approximately and expenditure, again including provision for superannuation, to about £915,000.
It is not the intention that the company will receive any direct or indirect financial subsidy from the Exchequer apart from whatever grants or other assistance it may be entitled to receive in common with other hotel companies, for example through Bord Fáilte. To the extent that such grants will not be sufficient to finance future development it is the intention that the company will finance development through capital raised on the security of its own assets or alternatively through borrowing guaranteed by C.I.E.
The number of staff involved varies from about 550 in the Winter season to 900 in the Summer season. There has been full consultation between the Board and the unions involved in regard to the transfer of staff to the new company. Transferred staff will retain their existing rights to superannuation benefits and redundancy compensation and I have given an undertaking that amending legislation in order to provide for retention of such rights by the staff concerned, will be introduced.
The proposal to establish a separate company for the Board's hotels and catering services represents a welcome decentralisation of management and control. The operation of hotels has little in common with transport problems and it is desirable that the higher management of C.I.E. should be able to concentrate on the difficult transport problems they still have to face. Conversely, the hotels and catering services can have the undivided attention of specialised management staff and this will be all the more important as a major scheme of improvement and extension of the hotels is now under way. There will be room on the new Board for new blood with specialised qualifications.
I recommend that the House should confirm this Order and I am sure that the House will join with me in wishing the new company every success.