THE former Bord na Mona chairman, Mr Brendan Halligan, provided confirmation to the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications that the company complied with the Government's pay guidelines for state bodies from 1993 on.
This was confirmed by a spokesman for the Minister, Mr Lowry, last night after the matter was raised by the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Ahern, in the Dail yesterday.
Mr Ahern said that in the report on Guidelines for State Bodies prepared by the secretary of the Department of Finance, Mr Cromien, for the Government in October 1991, chairmen of semi state companies had an obligation to report to relevant ministers on any matters not within the guidelines laid down by the Government.
He asked the Taoiseach to request Mr Lowry to place the annual reports of Bord na Mona from 1992 to 1995 in the Oireachtas library during the day.
"If those reports were completed, we could very quickly resolve matters at present under dispute. If those reports are not ready the chairman of the company concerned must answer to this House why they were not circulated," Mr Ahern said.
Asked if the chairman of Bord na Mona had made such reports in those years, the Minister's spokesman said. "Among other semi state companies, there has been confirmation of compliance with the Government's guidelines by Bord na Mona."
The spokesman said he was referring to the annual reports for 1993 onwards. These have not been published by the Minister and were not laid before the Dail library yesterday.
Under the Guidelines for State Bodies, the chairman of each body is required to furnish a comprehensive report to the appropriate Minister separate from the annual report and accounts "affirming that the Government guidelines on pay of chief executives are being complied with".
The thinking behind that requirement, as outlined in the Cromien recommendations in 1991, was that chairmen of all state bodies should be reminded that they were required to implement government policy in relation to the remuneration of the chief executive "and that the arrangements made cover total remuneration".
