Results 18,881-18,900 of 19,173 for speaker:Shane Ross

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I could not agree with her more. Nobody ever said that. We simply said that this should not be an overriding consideration and that the primary consideration should be merit. The evidence we produced tonight and which has been shown time and again is loyalty to a political party. A pool of people exists who are loyal to a particular party and particularly to this Government——

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I move: That Seanad Éireann calls on the Government to reform the practice of making political appointments to semi-State bodies. This motion addresses the issue of political appointments to semi-State bodies. The Minister has had responsibility for certain such bodies in the past and will know they are very peculiar creatures. For the purposes of this debate, they have two relevant...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: The Minister can claim or disclaim him as he chooses, but he was to be seen at Fianna Fáil fundraisers to beat the band, and the Minister knows that as well as me.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: That is true, and Fianna Fáil likes to appoint such people in response; that is what they did. I am sorry, but there were others.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I will come to that.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I am not doing so at all.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: Anyone watching the recent "Prime Time" programme on television will have seen, to his great credit, Mr. Hugh Byrne, an ex-Minister for Fianna Fáil in the last Government. He turned up as chairmen of Bord Iascaigh Mhara on a very nice salary and with very nice perks. It was quite obviously a consolation prize for loss of office. However, Mr. Byrne let the cat out of the bag. He let it be...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: Senator Mansergh will no doubt also get such a position when he loses his seat. He should not worry, for he will be well looked after. The Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, has looked after lesser people than the Senator. He would even secure such an appointment on the basis of some talent.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: All parties have engaged in this practice.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: One need only look at VHI. One could hardly wander down its corridors without bumping into a Fine Gael trustee, because they were on the board. The system is abused by Labour, the Progressive Democrats and everyone, but it is time it ended because semi-State bodies and the political process suffer. There is deep public cynicism about the practice, and that is proper. Under the last coalition...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I do not have sufficient time, but I may touch on the matter in my summing up. The Labour Party was as culpable as the Fianna Fáil Party at that time, promoting their friends and relations to jobs, and also creating jobs for them which are now a constant embarrassment and which cost the party the 1997 general election. That was a high price to pay, but ultimately people were waiting for the...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: He was a fine appointment as chairman of Aer Lingus. However, the reason for these changes in the Aer Lingus board is not unrelated to the fact that boards must have a commercial ethos when they are to be sold. One cannot afford to appoint patently political people if the company is to be sold off. In order to get a company into the private sector, board members must be appointed on pure...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I have been asked not to name people.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I know and that is the reason I will not name anyone else. I have been asked not to name any more although I would be happy to.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: I come to the issue of signing out information about these people. It is extraordinarily difficult to elicit information from the relevant Department and annual reports about them. If I, or any Member asks for documentation about them, we will get some fig-leaf type documents listing their qualifications. One piece of information not given out is that they are members of a political party to...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: They never tell anybody about it. Why are they so ashamed? Why do they not say outright that they are Fianna Fáil activists, as happens in the case of An Post for instance? This information is hidden from the public because these people are primarily appointed because of their loyalty to the party. However, they do not want people to think that. These people keep popping up on different...

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: This is an abuse to which we must put an end. I hope Fine Gael and the Labour Party will pledge this evening that if they return to power——

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: ——they will set up a commission, accept a verdict of the Civil Service Commission or agree to set up a system whereby public hearings will be held to examine what qualifications these people have. Everybody who is selected for a semi-State body, and I do not suggest that being a member of a political party should bar a person from membership of a board——

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: Not at all. This is the sort of misrepresentation I expect to hear from the other side of the House. That is not what I suggest. I suggest board members should come before hearings of, perhaps, this House and the Dáil, or of suitable independent bodies and answer questions so that we have transparency in these appointments.

Seanad: Appointments to Semi-State Bodies: Motion. (10 Mar 2004)

Shane Ross: The Government has some neck in proposing its amendment. It has some neck to congratulate itself on corporate governance. This Government is as bad as any other although there have been one or two changes recently in preparation for possible IPOs. The Government is as bad or worse as any other in promoting its friends and relations to positions of influence on semi-State bodies. To come in...