John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Hogan on raising this important issue. This dispute will not come as a surprise to many people who take an interest in maritime matters. People may be surprised and appalled by the tactics employed by Irish Ferries. However, this crisis was entirely avoidable and the Government could have played a greater role in preventing it. Since 2002, when marine matters ceased to be represented directly at the Cabinet table, there has been an absence of any strategic focus or direction in this regard. Marine and maritime issues have become an add-on to a Department that deals with broadcasting, e-commerce, mining, energy and telecommunications. I do not doubt that if the marine had full Cabinet status in its own right, the crisis we now face could have been avoided.

I understand, for example, that proposals were advanced to the Department of Finance by the Irish Maritime Development Office, IMDO, that could have alleviated the position in which Irish Ferries found itself in the context of high costs. The IMDO received the sector's proposals about three years ago and recommended their implementation. The report has been with the Department for the past three years. Another factor is that the Government failed to reintroduce the PRSI rebate scheme, which ended in 2003. This could have been used effectively for seafarers in order to bring Ireland into line with practices in other EU countries. Under UK legislation, seafarers in international waters are effectively exempt from national insurance, which lowers the cost of employing them. If State aids had been in place for the past three years, along with benefit to seafarers, it would certainly have helped considerably. As an island nation, we have a national imperative to take a strategic approach to the establishment and maintenance of links by sea between this country and other states. The extent of our dependence on sea transport for both exports and imports is highlighted by the fact that 35% of national export capacity is threatened as a result of the difficulties at Irish Ferries. This will have a direct impact on the availability of goods and services to consumers in Ireland over the coming weeks. It indicates how important it is that this dispute is resolved immediately.

It is critical that the Government starts to take this sector of the economy seriously. We should have a strategic overview of the importance of maintaining adequate and diverse sea transport links between Ireland and our trading partners. The Farrell Grant Sparks report identified this problem and the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources knew of its content. I am very disappointed that he did not negotiate in Europe to get that exemption back in place. It may not have solved the problem, but we did not avail of that benefit although it operates in other jurisdictions. Why did the Minister not go back to Europe and reinstate a refund scheme for employer contributions of social costs — a facility that was in existence since 1997? The Government announced an extension of the scheme to November 2004, subject to EU approval, which was not sought. Why was it not sought? It is not in place at the moment. The Irish Maritime Development Office also prepared recommendations, but nothing was done about them either. The Government missed a golden opportunity when it did not avail of those two critical aspects, which could have helped to avert this major difficulty.

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