Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan lost patience with an MHK this week, in the face of yet more questions over the government’s decision to buy the Steam Packet.

As Kate Beecroft (LibVannin, Douglas South) continued to press for greater openness about the multi-million-pound dealW at this week’s Tynwald, she acknowledged the government line that it would lead to greater certainty for the island and could result in a better service - but argued the public wanted to know about fares and freight costs, as well as the impact on the current user agreement.

An exasperated Mr Cannan hit back: ’Good to hear the member acknowledge we have been through these points a number of times, which begs the question: why is the question actually being asked?

’For a member who voted against this proposal, she is taking a great deal of interest in the view of the majority of the members of Tynwald.’

That majority, he said, had been ’satisfied at the time by the very clear pathway that was laid out â?¦ about how we were going to set about addressing some of the challenges around this and ensuring that the shareholder, the Isle of Man, got its proper benefit from the investment that it has made’.

But Mrs Beecroft countered: ’There is an old saying that, when you get sick of saying something, people are only just beginning to hear that.’

Earlier this year the government bought the Steam Packet in a £124 million deal, becoming a 100% shareholder of its parent firm, but said it would keep the running of the company at ’arm’s length’.

Mrs Beecroft was the only Tynwald member to vote against the deal and she has continued to press for more information on the deal and on what its impact will be.

On Tuesday, she asked Mr Cannan what the ’material benefit’ of the deal would be for the island.

She said the public still was not clear about what the impact will be and called for better communication and transparency over government’s handling of the purchase.

Mr Cannan insisted: ’Returning the company to the ownership of the people of this island will provide certainty for the island over the ownership of the business, will stop the company being used as an investment tool for city banks and financiers, will allow us to negotiate a tighter performance framework and ultimately give greater consideration to how the company may better serve its customers through pricing and operational performance.’

He pledged that a new user agreement would need to go to Tynwald for approval, and he hoped to see that happen before December.

The minister added: ’The way the Steam Packet Company has been run, and the profits that were being stripped out of the Steam Packet Company, was completely unacceptable and it is far better that that money is kept on-island, rather than sitting in finance houses in London, Portugal, New York and god knows where else.’