Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 27 Jun 2002

Vol. 553 No. 7

Written Answers. - Harbour Authorities.

Eamon Gilmore

Question:

183 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the dates on which the current members of the boards of the State's commercial port companies were appointed; the names of each of the members appointed; the persons or organisations by whom the appointed members were recommended for appointment; and the names of the persons or organisations who have complained to him regarding any of the appointments made. [15159/02]

Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (Mr. D. Ahern)

The following schedule outlines the current membership of the boards of the ten commercial State port companies, the date of each appointment, the recommendations received by various persons or organisations on foot of the statutory and non-statutory consultations as prescribed by the Harbours Act, 1996, and the nominations of local authorities and port employees as prescribed by the Act.

The composition of the boards of the commercial State port companies is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Harbours Act, 1996. In accordance with section 17 (3) of the Act the number of directors shall be not more than 12. Each director is appointed by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources with the consent of the Minister for Finance. The chief executive officer of each port company is anex-officio director in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Section 30(6) of the Act and the Port Companies (Appointment of Local Authority Directors) Regulations, 1996 and 2002 provide that the Minister shall appoint three members of a prescribed local authority or local authorities, each of whom has been nominated in the prescribed manner by a prescribed local authority or local authorities, as port company directors.

Section 30(1)(a) of the Act provides that the Minister shall, in respect of a company the employees of which are more than 50 in number, appoint to be each a director of the company, two company employees nominated following an election process.

The remaining six directors are appointed by the Minister and in accordance with section 30(7) of the Act. The Minister is obliged to consult with the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation and various other persons seeking their recommendations in relation to these appointments.

I have not personally received any complaints from any person or organisation regarding appointments to port company boards. However, I am advised that at least two complaints were made to my predecessor regarding appointments to Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company. I have asked my Department to check the position further and I will furnish the Deputy with details as soon as possible.

Port Company	Name of Director	Date Appointed	Recommended/Nominated
Port of Cork Company	Mr. Dermot O'Mahony (C)	25 April 2002
	Mr. Alan Coleman MCC	25 April 2002
	Mr. Dominic J. Daly	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents Association
	Ms Noelle Canton	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents AssociationIrish Chamber of Shipping
	Mr. Finbarr Buckley	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Colm Burke	3 March 2002	Nominated by Cork City Council
	Mr. Joe Dowling	22 November 2000
	Cllr. J Mulvihill	12 July 1999	Nominated by Cork County Council
	Mr. Louis Kenneally	29 September 1997	Elected by the employees of the Company
	Mr. David Doolan	29 September 1997	Elected by the employees of the Company
	Cllr. Tim Falvey	14 July 1997	Nominated by Cork City Council
Drogheda Port Company	Mr. Matthew Nolan (C)(E)	25 April 2002
	Mr. Paddy Traynor	25 April 2002
	Mr. Michael Coyle	25 April 2002
	Mr. Willie Lennon	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents Association
	Mr. Adrian Walker	25 April 2002
	Mr. David Prior	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Sean Collins	3 March 2002	Nominated by Drogheda City Council
	Cllr. Jimmy Cudden	3 March 2002	Nominated by Meath County Council
	Cllr. Jacqui McConville	21 December 1998	Nominated by Louth County Council

There are currently two vacancies on the Board of Drogheda Port Company which are expected to be filled in the near future.

The chief executive officer post at both ports has yet to be finalised and accordingly there are noex-officio directors on the port company boards at present.

Port Company	Name of Director	Date Appointed	Recommended/Nominated
Dublin Port Company	Mr. Joe Burke (C)	25 April 2002
	Mr. Jerry Kiersey	25 April 2002
	Mr. Tom Hussey	25 April 2002
	Mr. Tony Ennis	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents Association
	Ms Cathy Bryce	25 April 2002	IBEC
	Mr. Brian Kerr	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents AssociationIrish Chamber of ShippingInstitute of Chartered Shipbrokers
	Cllr. John Stafford	3 March 2002	Nominated by Dublin City Council
	Cllr. Eamonn O'Brien	26 July 1999	Nominated by Dublin City Council
	Cllr. Royston Brady	26 July 1999	Nominated by Dublin City Council
	Mr. Thomas Linehan (E)	22 September 1997	Elected by the employees of the Company
	Mr. Eamonn McAteer (E)	22 September 1997	Elected by the employees of the Company
	Mr. Enda Connellan (ex-officio)
Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company	Mr. Paddy McMahon (C)	25 April 2002
	Mr. Sean Costello	25 April 2002
	Mr. Gerry Nagle	25 April 2002
	Mr. Tom Welby	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Victor Boyhan	25 April 2002
	Ms Eithne Scott Lennon	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Tony Fox	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Betty Coffey	3 March 2002	Nominated by Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council
	Cllr. Jane Dillon Byrne	3 March 2002	Nominated by Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council
	Cllr. Donal Marren	3 March 2002	Nominated by Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council
	Mr. David Redmond (E)	1 December 1997	Elected by the employees of the company
	Mr. Michael Hanahoe (ex-officio)

Port Company	Name of Director	Date Appointed	Recommended/Nominated
Galway Harbour Company	Mr. Eamon Bradshaw (C)	25 April 2002
	Ms Anna O'Coinne	25 April 2002
	Mr. Raymond Rooney	25 April 2002
	Mr. Tom McElwain	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents AssociationIrish Chamber of Shipping
	Ms Ann McElroy (E)	25 April 2002	Nominated by the employees of the port company
	Ms Marie Cleary	21 May 2002
	Cllr. Angela Lupton	2 March 2002	Nominated by Galway City Council
	Cllr. Paul Colleran	3 August 1999	Nominated by Galway City Council
	Cllr. Michael Regan	26 July 1999	Nominated by Galway County Council
	Mr. Martin Connolly	4 December 1998
	Mr. Tom O'Neill (ex-officio)
New Ross Port Company	Mr. Mark Minihan (C)	25 April 2002	Chambers of Commerce of Ireland
	Cllr. Joan Murphy	25 April 2002
	Mr. Edward Whelan	25 April 2002
	Mr. Tom Clarkin	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents AssociationIrish Chamber of Shipping
	Mr. Martin Murphy	25 April 2002
	Mr. Paddy Doyle	25 April 2002
	Ms Ann Wall	25 April 2002
	Mr. Pat Nolan (E)	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Jimmy Curtis	3 March 2002	Nominated by Wexford County Council
	Cllr. Francis Ryan	3 March 2002	Nominated by New Ross City Council
	Cllr. Dixie Doyle	3 March 2002	Nominated by Kilkenny County Council
	Lt. Cdr. Tom Meehan (ex-officio)

There is currently one vacancy on the board of the Galway Harbour Company which is expected to be filled in the near future.

Port Company	Name of Director	Date Appointed	Recommended/Nominated
Shannon Foynes Port Company	Mr. Kieran MacSweeney (C)	25 April 2002	IBEC
	Cllr. John Griffin	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Ned O'Sullivan	25 April 2002
	Mr. John Dundon	25 April 2002	Irish Ship Agents AssociationIrish Chamber of Shipping
	Ms Suzanne Bugler	25 April 2002
	Mr. Morgan Leahy	25 April 2002
	Cllr. Kevin Sheahan	3 March 2002
	Cllr. Kieron O'Hanlon	3 March 2002
	Cllr. Pat Keane	3 March 2002
Port of Waterford Company	Mr. Ben Gavin (C)	11 January 1999
	Mr. Michael Flynn	11 January 1999	Chambers of Commerce of Ireland
			IBEC
	Ms Margaret Kent	11 January 1999
	Mr. David Lane	11 January 1999
	Mr. Maurice Lonergan	11 January 1999
	Mr. Max Morris	11 January 1999
	Mr. Patrick Murphy	11 January 1999	Irish Exporters Association
	Mr. Padraig O'Griofa	11 January 1999
	Cllr. Robert Aylward	11 January 1999	Nominated by Kilkenny County Council
	Cllr. John Carey	27 August 1999	Nominated by Waterford County Council
	Cllr. Maurice Cummins	11 January 1999	Nominated by Waterford City Council
	Mr. John Clancy (ex-officio)

Elections are due to be held for the election of two employee directors to the Shannon Foynes Port Company in the near future.

Port Company	Name of Director	Date Appointed	Recommended/Nominated
Dundalk Port Company	Mr. Pierce Hanrahan (C)	9 May 2002	Chambers of Commerce of Ireland
	Mr. Jim Cousins	9 May 2002
	Mr. Frank Allen	9 May 2002	Chambers of Commerce of Ireland
	Ms Marna Fleming	9 May 2002
	Mr. Pat McHugh MCC	9 May 2002
	Mr. Leo McAuley	9 May 2002	IBEC
	Mr. Fergus Murphy	9 May 2002
	Mr. Michael McCabe (E)	9 May 2002	IMPACT
	Mr. Noel Lennon	9 May 2002	Nominated by Dundalk City Council
	Mr. Sean Kenna	9 May 2002	Nominated by Dundalk City Council
	Cllr. Seamus Keelan	9 May 2002	Nominated by Dundalk City Council
Wicklow Port Company	Mr. Fachtna Whittle (C)	10 May 2002
	Mr. Brendan Newsome	10 May 2002	IBECChambers of Commerce of Ireland
	Mr. Roy Conway	10 May 2002	Irish Ship Agents AssociationIrish Chamber of ShippingIrish Chamber Shipping
	Mr. William Power	10 May 2002
	Mr. Stephen Kearon	10 May 2002
	Mr. Pat Doyle	10 May 2002	Wicklow Chamber of Commerce
	Mr. Charlie Byrne	10 May 2002
	Mr. Kitt Dunne (E)	10 May 2002	ICTU
	Cllr. Liam Kavanagh	10 May 2002	Nominated by Wicklow County Council
	Cllr. Denis Teevan	10 May 2002	Nominated by Wicklow City Council
	Cllr. John O'Brien	10 May 2002	Nominated by Wicklow City Council

There is currently no chief executive officer at Dundalk Port Company or Wicklow Port Company, accordingly there are noex-officio directors on the port company boards at present.

Question No. 184 answered with Question No. 180.