Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I understand that the first vessel referred to by the Deputy is not registered in Ireland, and that a ship management agency recruits, employs and manages the ship's staff on this service. Where the terms and conditions of employees are concerned, the flag state, that is the state where the ship is registered, has the exclusive rights to exercise legislative and enforcement jurisdiction over its ships on the high seas. Seafarers on Irish registered ships remain subject to the provisions of Irish law regardless of the location of the ship.

Surveyors from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources may inspect ships docked at Irish ports to ensure that foreign registered vessels are maintained and operated in compliance with international safety standards. Port authorities have inspected the vessel referred to by the Deputy in the past and were satisfied that the living and working standards were in compliance with the relevant standards.

On 19 September, Irish Ferries announced that it had offered a voluntary severance package to its 543 seafaring employees on its Irish Sea services between Dublin-Holyhead and Rosslare-Pembroke. According to the company, the decision was taken as a result of low-cost shipping competition and increased capacity from low fares airlines. I understand that the company intends to replace those staff made redundant with third party agency arrangements for EU sourced staff.

Primary responsibility for this sector rests with the Minister and the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. The Minister of State with responsibility for the marine has already stated that he considers the measures announced as extreme and that the implementation of the proposed redundancies would have grave consequences for Irish seafarer employment, given Irish Ferries' position as the largest employer of Irish seafarers. He expressed his hope that the company would delay implementation of its plan until recent proposals concerning state aid guidelines for the sector have been considered by the Government.

Notwithstanding the limitations of international law as outlined, the services of the State's dispute-settling machinery of the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court are available to the parties at any stage.

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