asked the Minister for Finance his reasons for not re-appointing a person (name supplied) as a director of Irish Shipping Limited.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Shipping.
15.
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to another Parliamentary Question, No. 58, tabled by him today.
Is it not true that through fear and jealousy, the Minister has decided to get rid of people who do not support him?
Might I refer Deputy L'Estrange to the reply I gave to Question No. 13 which was in the form of a tabular statement. When the Deputy looks at that statement he will see something in it which indicates that a certain gentleman who was on that board and who ceased in 1951 to be a member of it was reappointed to it in 1958.
The Name of the Game.
Nobody other than a Fianna Fáil hack will be appointed at present.
(Interruptions.)
I could not hear the answer to Question No. 15.
I suspect that Deputy L'Estrange did not hear it either.
We have a fair idea of what was the answer.
I shall repeat the reply:
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to another Parliamentary Question, No. 58, tabled by him today.
Is it not true that Mr. Jones was doing an extremely good job and that he was appointed in the past by the then Minister for Finance who is now the Taoiseach because he was a man of experience and ability and is it not true that you are kicking him off the board despite the fact that you acted the hypocrite and thanked him for the wonderful job he had done over the years? In other words, "Cut my throat and give me sticking plaster then to put over it"?
The Deputy may not make a speech at Question Time.
Is it not true that the only reason he has now been dismissed is that he is a friend of Deputy Blaney?
I am sure the gentleman in question and everybody else will be very impressed by the touching concern of Deputy L'Estrange for his interests.
Yes. We like to see justice in this country.
Order.
We know what is going on and we do not like what is going on now. They have no chance. The dissidents are being ousted; the purge is on; but you will not purge the Deputies out of the Dáil in case you would lose your position as Minister.
Deputy L'Estrange will be purged the next time.
I am not dependent on politics for my living and nobody belonging to me ever got anything out of politics. I guarantee that. As far as I or my family are concerned there is no low standard in high places as there was in the Fianna Fáil Party. Nobody belonging to me got anything out of politics. If Deputy Cooney beats me I will be beaten by a good man who will be a credit to this House.
The Deputy must cease the interruptions and let us have some high standard in Question Time.
Will the Minister have some standards? He talked about low standards in high places before anybody else in the country.
I think "Confusion" has taken second place to this performance.
16.
asked the Minister for Finance (a) the present directors of Irish Shipping Limited, (b) the date and duration of appointment of each director, (c) the salary or other emoluments paid to each director and (d) the qualifications of each director for appointment.
17.
asked the Minister for Finance (a) the qualifications of a person (name supplied) who was recently appointed to the board of Irish Shipping Limited, (b) the duration of his appointment and (c) the salary or other emoluments pertaining to the office.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17 together.
The names of the directors of Irish Shipping Limited, the dates of their appointment and their fees are given in the form of a tabular statement which with your permission a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to circulate with the Official Report.
Following is the statement:
|
Director |
First Nominated |
Subsequent Renominations |
Fee |
|
Mr. P.H. Greer (Chairman) |
June 1962 |
Nominated Chairman, Febru ary, 1965, renominated to Board June 1965. Renominated Chairman June, 1969 |
£750 |
|
Mr. D. Barnes |
July 1961 |
June 1964 |
£500 |
|
June 1967 |
|||
|
June 1970 |
|||
|
Mr. N. Griffin |
April 1960 |
June 1963 |
£500 |
|
June 1966 |
|||
|
June 1970 |
|||
|
Mr. L. St John Devlin |
July 1959 |
June 1962 |
£500 |
|
June 1965 |
|||
|
June 1968 |
|||
|
June 1971 |
|||
|
Mr. F. Robbins |
November 1959 |
June 1962 |
£500 |
|
June, 1966 |
|||
|
June 1969 |
|||
|
Mr. F. Reihill |
June 1971 |
— |
£500 |
|
Mr. H. McMahon |
June 1971 |
— |
£500 |
(b) With regard to the duration of appointment, under the terms of the Articles of Association of the Company, two Directors must retire each year. The Directors to retire in any year are those who have been longest in office since their last nomination. As between persons who became directors on the same day, those to retire are determined by lot unless otherwise agreed among themselves.
The duration of an appointment is therefore, about 3 years, and directors may be renominated for further periods.
(d) In accordance with the Company's Articles of Association Directors are nominated by me, as Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Minister for Transport and Power.
In nominating Directors to the Board of Irish Shipping Ltd., I seek to appoint persons who have, in my opinion, the experience and ability necessary to contribute to the advancement of the Company.
Does the Minister not know that one of the men he has appointed has no experience, good, bad or indifferent, of shipping, whereas the man he kicked off—Mr. Jones—had full knowledge of shipping and, according to the Minister, did excellent work in the past? Further, is it not true that the only reason he has been appointed is that he is a paid-up member of Taca? Mr. Jones when he was a member gave his salary to charity and the man you are appointing certainly will not do that.
I do not think the question of charity arises in the matter of appointments.
There was very little charity in the Fianna Fáil Party to support Deputy Blaney or Deputy Haughey. They got the boot very quickly.
It is described as "Caritas".