Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I dealt with this last week. As the Deputy knows, the flag of convenience has been used on the seas generally for many decades. It has been exploited far beyond Irish Ferries. In fact, Irish Ferries made the point to its workforce for the past number of years that it was one of the few companies not engaged in this practice and the reason it was arguing about its cost base was that so many others were engaged in this practice. This practice has been engaged in for a long time on the open seas. I do not know when it started but it certainly was not in recent decades.

On 19 September Irish Ferries announced it had offered a voluntary severance package to 543 of its seafaring employees on its Irish Sea services between Dublin and Holyhead and Rosslare and Pembroke. An offer was made to any employees who wished to stay on. As the Deputy said, under those offers, there was a voluntary redundancy package of up to eight weeks' pay per year of service, including two weeks' statutory pay provided there was agreement with the company. Last week I said we were looking at the legalities of that. We raised it and we will talk to the trade union about it because if some people go, we must be careful we do not create difficulties for individual employees as well.

The objection I have with the company is that it said it would replace these departing staff with crew from an agency employing cheaper eastern European personnel which many others on the seas do. The Government believes in an Irish labour context the action Irish Ferries took was sharp practice and totally unacceptable. The Deputy quoted me correctly in that regard.

The national implementation body met last week and welcomed the invitation by the chairman of the Labour Court to the parties to meet separately in informal and exploratory talks. It recommended the parties respond positively to the court's invitation. I welcome the fact the company and the unions met at the Labour Court yesterday and I urge all the parties to co-operate with the industrial relations machinery of the State because that is how this issue will be dealt with.

For the Deputy's information, the preliminary advice received from the Attorney General as to whether a statutory redundancy situation exists was that on the basis of the information available it may not fall within the definition of the Redundancy Payments Acts. No formal communication as yet has been received from Irish Ferries, so the discussions go on.

If there is a requirement for changes to legislation in this regard, obviously the relevant Department will look at some of the issues arising. However, we have made our points very clearly to IBEC which I think accepts them, as does the company. The Deputy knows the impracticality of saying these companies which face change and opposition should never make anyone redundant. The reality is we are in a situation where normal industrial relations are being followed, which I welcome. We should leave the discussions to take place where they rightly should, that is, in the Labour Court.

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