Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

I met the chairman and we had a long discussion at the committee meeting. There was a concern in terms of the issue of the pay cap of €250,000 set by the Minister. It is too much one way or the other but in this time of austerity and given all that is happening in the economy, I have no wish to see us going beyond that amount. The chairman indicated he had no problem with this in general. I have no arguments with his credentials. He seems to be good as far as I am concerned. However, it is an immense job. There is a €500 million pension fund which has many problems. It is a profitable company and I do not believe the taxpayer should have to put much to it. It is an urgent matter.

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