Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

My father, along with his many other roles in life, was a merchant seaman. The job gave him a sense of fulfilment and much satisfaction. The skills he had were being properly utilised. However, the job had some social costs in that it meant long absences from the family. Eventually he decided on an onshore career. While the comparison is not directly applicable with the ferry workers who work on short haul routes, the skill of seamanship is one that is acquired through experience. The idea that experience can be replaced with a click of one's fingers, that flags of convenience can be replaced and that standards applicable in international law go by the wayside because of the economic convenience of owners is something this Parliament should not support.

As an island nation, we should strive for the highest standards in international maritime law. That includes labour standards for those who work in this industry. People who are caught up in the current situation will find the words of the Taoiseach and the Government mealy mouthed. They have experience of previous situations. They remember what happened with B&I Line and Irish Shipping. They have no confidence in the Government, nor should they have given their experience of the attitude of previous Governments towards this industry.

However, the Irish Ferries situation is different. It has appealed to the public sense of outrage more than the other conflicts in this industry. The fact that this proposal, if it can be dignified by the name, is being made after the situation that occurred with the MV Normandy and the employment circumstances of the Filipina woman, whose name I cannot remember, shows this company will go to any lengths to achieve what it wants in terms of underwriting the bottom line. Everyone is expendable except those at the top. We seem to take pride in the constant mentions in The Economist that this is the most globalised nation in the world but the reality of that globalisation is staring at us with the experience of the Irish Ferries workers.

If the Government has any sense of embarrassment by what is happening, it should put in place the necessary legislation to ensure that this cannot recur. At the same time, it should seek to underwrite the situation by protecting the jobs that are in place and insisting on appropriate standards. If it is not prepared to do that, its words carry no more weight than the words of previous Governments with regard to the previous issues I mentioned.

Hundreds of people are affected, including the additional jobs in the ferry ports. I represent a constituency that has a ferry port. This will have a cumulative effect and this Government will pay a price in the next election. The Government has had opportunities to deal with this issue in the past. It is a situation that has existed for far too long in the case of another ferry company on the Irish Sea route, Swansea Cork Ferries. That was once a State company. It was co-owned by Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Kerry County Council and Glamorgan County Council in Wales. As the company could not run the line productively it was sold to a consortium. The way that consortium has run it since has been by replacing an Irish based workforce with a cheaper eastern European crew.

We cannot allow this policy to continue. We must make a stand. If the Government is not prepared to do it, it is time it stood aside and let others in the House, who are prepared to take the responsibilities of Government seriously, do so.

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