Vol. 412 No. 3
118 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for the Marine if he will outline (1) whether he received nominations to harbour boards in Wexford, Wicklow and Drogheda from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and (2) the reason he did not appoint ICTU nominees in accordance with normal practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Harbours Act, 1946, provides for the nomination by me of three members to each of the Part II harbours i.e. harbours such as Wexford, Wicklow and Drogheda. There is a statutory requirement that one of these three members must be a person who, in my opinion, is representative of labour interests.
In all the ICTU made recommendations in respect of 19 harbour boards this year. Ten of those recommended were subsequently nominated by me, including the Wexford nominee. In 1985, the last harbour election year, 11 of 18 persons recommended by Congress were subsequently nominated by the then Minister in the Labour-Fine Gael Government. In instances where it was not possible to appoint the ICTU nominees I ensured that one of my appointees to each board was representative of labour interests.
