State employees refuse to answer to the Dail.

[Digout]

Another reason to go to war. The boards of CIÉ and Iarnród Éireann have refused to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Transport.

I would fire them, I bet FF will give them a payoff and a fat pension.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...270711356.html

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Looks like a great excuse for leveraging the public investment in those companies and firing the top tier of management.

Need a reason? Directors have a duty not to damage the company's standing and reputation and there are clauses in senior management contracts around that subject invariably and the Directors there have now breached that with a refusal to appear before a properly constituted Oireachtas Commitee. I'd say that damages the standing and reputation of the companies involved.

I think its an ideal excuse to get rid of an entire layer of these muppets who don't understand the Piper and Tune system.

If the world turned upside down and I had anything to do with it I'd be delighted with the opportunity to clear them out.

[Dagger John]

Time to sack them if possible

[Digout]

Time to sack them if possible

Wont happen, for contractual reasons.

[Dagger John]

Wont happen, for contractual reasons.

Are they not in breach of contract? Or is the contract you refer to with a third party?

[Baron von Biffo]

They are perfectly entitled to decline an invitation to appear before the committee. They are accountable to the minister not a Dail committee. Frankly they it have been irresponsible of them to risk damaging their companies by turning up to a forum where they would just be hectored to provide sound bites and column inches for poll reject Shane Ross.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

And what does the Minister have to say concerning the declining of an invitation to appear before an Oireachtas commitee?

Or is the Minister, like Lendahand, afraid to open yet another Pandora's Box of Irish corruption?

[Baron von Biffo]

And what does the Minister have to say concerning the declining of an invitation to appear before an Oireachtas commitee?

Or is the Minister, like Lendahand, afraid to open yet another Pandora's Box of Irish corruption?

What would you have him say?

[DCon]

What would you have him say?

"I'm an incompetent fool, and I am resigning as a result" would be nice

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

What would you have him say?

'Get those arses in front of the Committee'.

[Baron von Biffo]

"I'm an incompetent fool, and I am resigning as a result" would be nice

That would be nice for all of them to say.

[Baron von Biffo]

'Get those arses in front of the Committee'.

Why?

There's a case to be made for state companies to be accountable to the Oireachtas via an all party committee but that's not the system we have at present. Given that, making the board appear before the committee is duplication of effort. It only serves the interests of the likes of Ross who'll get a whingy column out of it.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Biffo, CIE and Iarnrod Eireann need to have their accounts examined because of the alarming indications of corruption there.

If the Directors of those companies feel that its appropriate, while living on state money, to brush off the representatives of the people who supply that money then I think its high time that the Piper started calling the tune there.

Those directors have damaged the reputation of those two companies by refusing to attend an Oireachtas Committe. What does that say about governance at both companies?

I'd say one thing if they were private organisations. But while they are using public money and have an effective monopoly in their markets supplied by the Piper then the Piper has every right to (a) end their monopoly (b) seek to remove the directors who have damaged the reputation of the company.

The only hitch in Ireland of course being that Irish politicians and in particular those from the current government partners shyte blocks about confronting such people as the first thing they'll hear is 'if ye tell on us we'll drop some info in the public environment ye wouldn't like.'

Thats what happened at FAS.

[Digout]

The FF corruption circus rolls on, fully supported by the Greens and FG.

[Baron von Biffo]

Biffo, CIE and Iarnrod Eireann need to have their accounts examined because of the alarming indications of corruption there.

If there are grounds to believe that then either the C&AG or the gardaí should be investigating them.

If the Directors of those companies feel that its appropriate, while living on state money, to brush off the representatives of the people who supply that money then I think its high time that the Piper started calling the tune there.

Those directors have damaged the reputation of those two companies by refusing to attend an Oireachtas Committe. What does that say about governance at both companies?

I'd say one thing if they were private organisations. But while they are using public money and have an effective monopoly in their markets supplied by the Piper then the Piper has every right to (a) end their monopoly (b) seek to remove the directors who have damaged the reputation of the company.

The person designated to call the tune is the minister.

The only hitch in Ireland of course being that Irish politicians and in particular those from the current government partners shyte blocks about confronting such people as the first thing they'll hear is 'if ye tell on us we'll drop some info in the public environment ye wouldn't like.'

Thats what happened at FAS.

That sort of comment is probably part of the reason the boards declined the invitation. Had they attended, government TDs would have tried to use them to back up the minister and the others would have tried the opposite with no benefit to either the taxpayer or the companies.