SOME OF the State’s port companies had more directors than employees, Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey told the Dáil.

He said that a vibrant, dynamic and competitive ports sector was vital to the future economic growth and prosperity of the State.

“Twelve directors is considered excessive for the State port companies,” said Mr Dempsey. “In the case of some of the smaller companies, the number of directors exceeds the total number of employees and has the potential to create an additional financial burden on those companies.”

Introducing the Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008, the Minister said that it provided for a total of eight directors on each board. “This reduction will ensure that port companies are better equipped to respond rapidly in a focused manner to any commercial challenges that may arise.”

An amendment to a 1996 Act removed the statutory representation of local authority directors on boards and standardised the number of employee-directors at one per company. However, it was intended that all current directors would serve out their full term.

Mr Dempsey said that the State commercial port companies emerged with the enactment of the Harbours Act 1996.

“Prior to that date, the sector was characterised by harbour boards with representatives from various interest groups, ministerial nominees and a number of local authority representatives,” he added.

“These harbour boards were characterised by unclear mandates, public utility ownership, a localised perspective and local monopolies.”

Fine Gael’s Fergus O’Dowd said at the heart of the Bill was an undemocratic principle, in that it would replace three publicly appointed local government representatives with an individual nominated by the minister of the day.

“This is a serious error, given that we are discussing local democracy and people’s expression of the opinions of their communities and businesses,” he added.

Labour’s Tommy Broughan asked why it had taken so long to bring forward a Bill which had its origins in a 2005 policy document.

“The unacceptable slowness in this legislation, which has meandered for the past 10 months, since it was launched on a bank holiday weekend, is typical of the lethargy of the Government over the past 12 years,” he added.

Mr Broughan said that the legislation did not enhance the governance of ports. “Many of the measures . . . will make our ports less democratic and less accountable and will increase the ability of the Minister to stack port boards with Government cronies who may not provide the ... drive that our ports need in these challenging economic times,” he added.