John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I read these documents, it struck me that the Department of Education and Skills also pays the maintenance costs of some transport vehicles. I ask Mr. O'Mahony to check the position, ascertain the precise figure and provide it to me within the next week.

I return to an issue relating to railway carriages which I raised some weeks ago with Mr. Murphy from the National Transport Authority. Deputy O'Donnell raised it again today. Irrespective of whether the number of carriages involved was 21 or ten, in an action that is typical of CIE, the company stuck its head in the sand on the Friday following the committee's meeting with the National Transport Authority and attempted to ignore the content of Mr. Murphy's contribution to the meeting. Mr. Murphy stated clearly that there were 21 carriages involved, yet a spokesperson for CIE did the rounds of the news programmes to respond to some commentary from this committee and deny some of the facts presented to us by Mr. Murphy. The spokesperson then attempted to present a story that the carriages in question were being towed around at the end of a train and that they were being used and did not have to be stored.

Nothing was further from the truth. That comment annoyed me because it meant denial on the part of the company. Therefore, I am pleased that you have come before us this morning and have not attempted to deny the facts as presented and have tried to explain the use of the carriages in a constructive way and the possibility that nine of them may have been needed to be used anyway. I commend you on that. If the culture within CIE is as demonstrated, I am not surprised it finds itself in difficulty with its accounts, particularly if it ignores the facts presented to us by the National Transport Authority.

With regard to the report we asked for, we asked the NTA to give us all of the facts and figures behind this issue and to liaise with the Department or whoever had those historically, as it is new in the business. I ask the Department to liaise with Mr. Murphy, likewise, to ensure we get a comprehensive response to the issues raised at this meeting and to the questions that have been raised this morning. One of the points with which I would take issue with the Department is that during the period when these carriages were being ordered, the National Roads Authority was constructing at speed motorways all over the country, thereby encouraging people to travel by car and other means. This seems not to have been factored into the consultant's report which supported the business plan for the purchase of the carriages. Therefore, the plan was flawed from day one.

To move on to the board, can Mr. O'Mahony tell us the salaries of the main players within CIE? What type of salary do they command for their expertise?