Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I strongly urge the first option, namely, that the board is abolished and is transferred directly under the control of the council. There is no need for this board, which is a waste of money and, frankly, has been a disaster for the harbour company. I am not exaggerating when I say there was a civil war going on in Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company between the management and the workforce and pensioners, and there are a lot of unanswered questions.

I ask the Minister to look into the following specific matter. A meeting has been called about problems with the pension fund. The Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, when he was Minister of State with responsibility for the marine in 1997, gave a letter to all staff stating that if there were any problems in the pension fund, the company would first have to look after the staff, but if the company was unable to look after them, the State would guarantee their pensions. I ask the Minister to look into that and to ensure that the State and the Government stand over that commitment to these pensioners.

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