Vol. 507 No. 2
4 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the outcome of her discussions with SIPTU concerning the future of the Great Southern Hotel Group; the commitment, if any, she has given or will give to specifically retain the group as a single commercial entity, provide for an employee share option plan and secure the employment of the staff; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16280/99]
Aer Rianta's submission to me last April in regard to the future strategic direction of the company sought the authority to exit from the Great Southern Hotel Group, in a manner determined through a consultative process with the relevant stakeholders. I had a meeting on 20 May last with the regional representative of SIPTU, Mr. Jack Nash, and a delegation of 24 Great Southern Hotel Group staff. I advised them at that meeting that my main consideration would be, of course, to find the right future for the Great Southern Hotels in a way that will also be right for the staff and the Irish tourism industry.
In the meantime, the board of Aer Rianta has retained Arthur Andersen consultants to examine all the options. In relation to employee share ownership schemes in commercial State companies, I have already stated that such schemes will be considered on a case by case basis with the best interests of each company in mind.
Will the Minister outline her position and that of the Government, not that of Arthur Andersen, on the future of this group? She said in a Dáil debate on this matter that she could not give any position on a single entity until she had met SIPTU and heard its point of view. Now that she has done that and some time has elapsed, will she give a commitment to the House that it is the Government's intention to keep this group together as a single entity? Has she had discussions with CERT? The point was made during the Dáil debate on this matter that standards for the hotel and tourism industries depend on CERT having an ongoing role in this matter. Does the Minister intend speaking to CERT about the future of the Great Southern Hotel Group if she has not done so already?
The Deputy asked me for the delegation's point of view. It was not in favour of disposal. I spent an hour and a half with the delegation and that was the net result. I told it I would get back to it on that.
The Cabinet has not discussed the future of the Great Southern Hotel Group either formally or informally, so it is clearly not for me to give an opinion now on the matter. I have not yet met with CERT, but when the House rises at the end of this week I intend to do a lot of work in this regard, such as visiting hotels and consulting various agencies and bodies.
Does the Minister think it appropriate that as part of the preparation of any memorandum she might bring to Cabinet, she should have discussions with CERT regarding its role? Specifically, does the Minister agree with the comments of the chairman at the time of publication of the Arthur Andersen report that the State had no business washing dishes or making beds? Does she concur or disagree with that view? It is appropriate that the Minister with responsibility for this matter state her position. What is her perspective on this matter? She has not been afraid to speak about many other State companies. She favours the IPO option in Telecom Éireann and Aer Lingus. Why is she so reluctant to state her position in this regard?
The matter has not yet gone to Cabinet. I presented the Aer Rianta report to Cabinet and, based on that, the Minister for Finance and I engaged people to make an analysis of the report. When that analysis is completed and I have formulated ideas I will go back to Cabinet with those ideas.
The Minister is stonewalling.
I am telling the Deputy the situation.
What about the chairman's remarks?
If I were to dissect the remarks of every chairman, I would be as well to give up this job.
These were particularly colourful remarks.
Chairmen tend to be colourful people.
So do Ministers.
