Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He will be aware that the accounts of CIE have been late virtually every year for the last three or four years. Can I have an assurance that they will not be late this year? The Minister of State has said the accounts are now in the hands of the Government. I hope they do not have to be referred back to the company as they were last year, when they finally emerged in November. If a company like this is losing so much money, why is its chief executive being paid so much? How can we justify paying between €150,000 and €200,000 to the chief executives of Dublin Bus, Iarnród Éireann and CIE at a time when the company is losing a fortune? I know that the loss of money is a kind of movable feast at CIE in the context of the subvention it receives. I would have thought that the aim of the Government should be for CIE to break even without a subvention. Despite the reduction of €36 million in the subsidy, there have been fare increases and very few cost reductions in the past year. CIE has been given an easy way out. I would like the Minister of State to assure the House that there will be no further fare increases. I would like to hear an affirmation and a justification in this regard. The managing director of AIB, David Duffy, this morning justified his salary of over €540,000 in the context of the bank's losses. Leaving the banks aside, why should the State pay €3,000 or €4,000 a week to the managing director of a company that is being rescued by the banks on a weekly basis?

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