Results 6,521-6,540 of 32,610 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, the Senator asked a direct question. In relation to all employees, their terms and conditions are protected by this Bill. They will transfer in on the terms and conditions they have at present. That was the feature of the consultation that took place in the run-up to publication of the Bill. In relation to some of the other matters to which the Senator has referred in regard to the...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: No. I genuinely believe not. The reason is that for those companies we are going to transfer through which will have a significant commercial activity in front of them, we will be transferring those as a separate company. They may well be in a place where the share is owned by the local authority but they will be a separate company under company law. That is the way in which that matter...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I assure Senator Walsh that section 9(1)(c) requires the consent by resolution of the elected council which is in line with the powers local authority members have in other financial matters. It is entirely consistent. On the point that Senator O'Neill put to me, the valuation of the shares would have to take place via expert advice that would have to be procured at that time. Anything...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Could the Senator put the question to me again to ensure that I answer the right one?

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: If a private citizen holds private shares that have been issued in a company, he or she has the right to do with those shares as he or she sees fit. Once one buys shares, they are then one's private property. This is precisely the reason I am saying in the Bill that 51% of the shares should be retained within the ownership of the local authority. While there are some extenuating...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: In all of the consultation we went through to develop the policy, in particular in relation to ports of regional significance, at no point did we encounter any great demand or even interest within the private sector to buy ports in their entirety. There is a lack of demand at the moment. Were the demand to develop in the future, my view is that up to a 49% share would deliver the kind of...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: This is an excellent amendment, and that was a very good question from Senator Walsh regarding the maintenance of competition within our ports. If I could deal with the amendment first, it is one that is very close to my own heart in terms of trying to drive and increase competition within our port sector, because I can see the benefit of it to our ports and to our country. I have to...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not sure that is a matter that could be dealt with through primary legislation. What I will say to the Senator is that there may be a way it could be dealt with through the due diligence process, in that such a matter could be dealt with at the point at which the Minister of the day makes the decision on the type of integration. I will give consideration to this before I am back in...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: This Bill does not change the current status of harbour masters or the current relationship between harbour masters and boards of directors. Everything the Senators have said about the important role of harbour masters in the operation of our ports is correct. I have met many of them in my journeys to various ports throughout the country. I have heard their absolute and genuine expertise...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: The valuation of assets has to be dealt with in the financial accounts that the port produces each year. It could be considered at the point of integration. The financial accounts will provide the valuation of the assets. What happens to liabilities will depend on the mode of integration of the company into the local authority. If it goes in as a stand-alone company, both assets and...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Absolutely not. He or she, as chief executive, would not be a shadow director of the company but the shareholder, and would occupy the role I currently occupy. There is no question of company law being breached in any way in this regard. I accept the Senator's point about the need for valuations and balance sheets to be checked. That is exactly why we have a due diligence process in place...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: The answer to that will depend on the mode of integration. If it is a stand-alone company within the local authority, the pension deficit or surplus, should there be one, will be retained within that independent company. If it is integrated into the local authority, it will be a matter for the local authority.

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Absolutely not, no. Any decision I make on the method of integration will be taken in close consultation with the local authority and port in question.

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Senator. Maybe at some point in the future when time permits and we are less busy with other matters, we can look at the difference the new Public Appointments Service process is making for the appointment of directors to companies. It is a matter I was dealing with only today. As such, I can assure the Senator that because of that process, the variety of candidates coming...

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: They are exactly the same. I have checked on the matter and been advised that from a drafting point of view, the phrase "shall have regard to" is exactly the same as "to comply with".

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: Can I answer that? I have met many councillors who are highly supportive of this.

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: It is many, many councillors.

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I say to the Senator respectfully that earlier in the Bill he was challenging me to say that local authorities were not the right place for these ports. Now, he is standing up to say it is terrible that local authority members will not have a role on their boards.

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Senator is making his point, I affirm to him that I have met a large number of councillors who are very much looking forward to this change. There is a point he should address and I look forward to hearing him do so. Why should powers of oversight be confined in a small number of councillors as opposed to all of them?

Seanad: Harbours Bill 2015: Committee Stage (16 Dec 2015)

Paschal Donohoe: I note again that I have met many councillors who are looking forward to this change.