Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I concur with those who have raised the issue of conduct by public interest directors of our banks. This issue needs to be addressed. The Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has encountered an example wherein the board of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland adopted a budget which was 50% higher than the previous year's. It was only when the joint committee took the chief executive of the authority to task that the budget was reduced from €7.6 million to €5.6 million. This is an example of people who are put into positions of trust and given a fiduciary duty to the State which they are not pursuing in an appropriate manner. This is an issue which applies generally across public service bodies. We have an opportunity to drive change, however, and we will not have ethics and morality in corporate governance unless we do so.

I support everything that Senator Mary White has said in regard to the Irish Thalidomide Association. It is a shame that the concerns of these people have not been addressed. The issue has a 50 year history and many of the victims have died in the intervening period. I hope the Government will respond positively and fairly to the issue.

The Supreme Court yesterday decided unanimously in the issue before them that the tribunal had no power to find that two directors of JMSE were not entitled to their legal costs because they had hindered or obstructed the tribunals.