Dáil debates

Tuesday, 19 July 2016

5:40 pm

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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40. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if, in his deliberations on the future governance of Dún Laoghaire Harbour, he will be taking into account the series of questions that were raised with his predecessor with regard to anomalies in payments to the chief executive and a board member of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22477/16]

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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For the five years of the last Dáil I asked a litany of questions about what I consider to be serious concerns about the corporate governance of Dún Laoghaire Harbour. Payments of expenses to directors turned out to be irregular and where the money was supposed to be refunded, it was not. Extra payments were made to the CEO and the saga of questions goes on.

I am not sure if the Minister is aware of it, but the latest accounts of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company show a €6.5 million loss, an increase from a €1 million loss last year. Will the Minister take into account these serious financial and corporate questions concerning the future of the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company?

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this issue. I am not sure how helpful I can be to him, but I will be as helpful as I possibly can. I understand that the Deputy has previously raised these issues with my predecessors in relation to payments to the CEO of the port company and concerning payments made to a director of the company.

Every commercial State body must disclose the CEO's annual salary in the published annual report and accounts of the body and Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company complies with this requirement. In relation to the amount of the CEO's salary queried by the Deputy, I am advised that, for better or for worse, it was in line with Government policy at that time.

On the payment of other expenses to the CEO in 2011, one of my predecessors made his view known that the payment should not have been made. I understand that the company has acknowledged this and confirmed that it will not happen again. 

The payment of expenses to directors is a matter for Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company in accordance with the code of practice for the governance of State bodies. As was advised in previous replies, the matter of payments to the director is the subject of legal action and it would be wrong for me to comment any further on that.

As the Deputy is aware, the Harbours Act 2015 provides the legislative basis for one of the key recommendations in national ports policy, namely, that governance of five ports of regional significance should vest in more appropriate local authority-led governance structures. Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, as a port of regional significance, is designated under the policy for transfer to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. The process of transferring governance and the future operational structures of the port are primarily matters for agreement between the local authority and the port.

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Minister needs to look into the issue of whether there are court proceedings. My understanding is that there is none. The Minister is being told a porky. He should simply ask the company if there is a court date and if an actual court hearing is due. He will find out there is not, so they are not telling the truth. That is my understanding and the matter needs to be checked.

Earlier this year, the statutory auditors for Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, Deloitte, resigned. This year, Pamela Kearney, the auditor on the board, resigned. As I have told the Minister, losses for the company, whose accounts came out in May, have increased from €1 million to €6.5 million.

Next week, on 27 July, the trustees of the pension scheme have been asked to meet the Pensions Board to address serious concerns raised by the worker pension trustees about the company's behaviour concerning the pension scheme. The questions continue over serious problems and irregularities with the financial and corporate governance of this harbour company. This company, which the Minister himself once called a quango, has to be dissolved. Its operating loss this year was €500,000. The combined salaries and fees of the CEO and directors add up to that loss. This quango has to be dissolved.

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I hear what Deputy Boyd Barrett is saying. I am not in a position either to contradict or confirm what he said about the legal action. My information is that there is a legal action going on, while the Deputy says there is not. I will resolve that in the next two or three days by checking up on what the Deputy is saying. I am not suggesting in any way that either party is acting in bad faith, but there is obviously a misunderstanding or certainly a conflict of evidence about this issue.

On the other matter, as the Deputy knows, the transfer is due to happen. The manner of the transfer will be finally decided, if it is not resolved between the local authorities and the company, in the last analysis by the Minister. If there is a dispute as to the model chosen, it will be a ministerial function to make that decision. I will certainly bear in mind what the Deputy has said if I am called upon to make that decision at any stage.

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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As I said, the operating loss, not to mind the huge increase in losses, is equivalent to the excessive salaries, fees and expenses that are being paid to an executive that has essentially run this company into the ground. That in itself, on a financial basis, is the reason for its dissolution and the need for it to be put under council control. In that way, we can have some real oversight and accountability concerning what goes on there. I urge the Minister to do that. When I asked him before, he offered an arrangement to meet some of the other stakeholders. Much of what the Minister is hearing is coming from the harbour company itself or from senior council officials.

In the next few weeks, if at all possible, I would like to bring some of the other harbour stakeholders to meet with the Minister to discuss the other side of the story in terms of what is going on in Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company because it is not a good story, Minister.

5:50 pm

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I share the Deputy's view that if there is an operating loss of the size he mentioned and the chief executives and directors are getting huge sums of money that is wrong. I do not feel comfortable with that and never would. I accept that on the last occasion we discussed this issue I said I would meet with anybody the Deputy wished to bring in and I would be delighted to do so. However, as the Deputy will be aware, my powers in this particular matter are limited. In other words, the Deputy should not expect too much from the meeting but I will certainly listen to what he has to say and where I can make decisions I will bear that in mind.