Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I compliment the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, for his handling of the bonus that Mr. Collier at DAA thought he could draw down at this point. There is a serious issue here with regard to the bonus culture that has been cultivated over many years for the CEOs of semi-State companies. These CEOs command incredible salaries. In 2009, the CEO of ESB claimed €752,000 in pay, bonus and pension contributions; the CEO of DAA, €568,000; and the CEO of An Post, €500,000. These are incredible salaries. When one hears Senator Zappone speak of this country's social sovereignty being at risk and how we are fighting to hold down services such as those of which the Labour deputy leader spoke today, we must send out the message from this House that this bonus culture is over. Everybody should join in this message, that this is unacceptable. If one thinks it is reserved merely to CEOs, one would be wrong. An article in The Irish Times today states that semi-State companies paid millions to senior managers in bonuses. It is not merely about CEOs. I am conscious that the Minister, Deputy Howlin, will be in the House tomorrow and we need to discuss this. We need to talk about how we can request these persons to volunteer to take cuts in the absence of it not being possible to enforce them legislatively. I request the Leader, who is looking at this with the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, to invite into this House the CEO of each of the semi-State companies in turn to ask them to defend, first, their service delivery and what they provide to the State and, second, the value for money they provide and that immoral bonus culture in which they have been involved for many years. That culture is over. It must be over, otherwise this country is going down faster than we might even have expected.