asked the Minister for Finance (1) whether he will now consider the desirability of discontinuing the activities of the many State-appointed and controlled boards and companies which the 1943 Report of the Commission on Vocational Organisation (page 430) described as fictitious companies provided by the State with public funds, while under no obligation to render an account of their activities to the Dáil or a strict account of their funds to the Comptroller and Auditor-General; and (2) whether civil servants shall be permitted to remain salaried directors of these companies.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - State-Controlled Companies.
(1) The necessity of entrusting industrial and commercial operations to specialist bodies largely autonomous in character, rather than directly to Departments of State, has raised the difficult problem of reconciling the freedom from interference regarded as essential for the discharge of business functions with amenability to Parliamentary control, especially in the financial sphere. I agree with the Deputy that it is unsatisfactory that the accounts and activities of these bodies, some of which have a considerable influence on the national economy, should receive no systematic consideration by the Oireachtas. The Government have had this problem under consideration, but have deferred a decision as to how it might be solved until they have studied in detail the activities of a few typical State-sponsored bodies.
(2) Questions relating to the appointment or reappointment of civil servants as directors of State-sponsored bodies are considered on their merits and I can make no general pronouncement in the matter.