Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)

The Fastnet line has been placed into interim examinership. The genesis of the service was a co-operative movement in west Cork. It is hugely valuable and has been very important economically in the Cork and Kerry region. The service has been hampered by fuel costs. It will be shelved and from 2012 will no longer run between October and March. Fastnet predicts that services will resume on 6 April 2012 until the end of September, as per its restructured viable business plan.

As part of a broader restructuring of the management team over the past four months, with the principal focus on improving and stabilisingthe financial statusof the company, the decision to cancel the service between Cork and Swansea has happened in a sudden and unexpected manner. It is of profound concern to people across the south west, including passengers, staff members and shareholders. The business employs several full-time shore employees in Cork and there is an average of 53 full-time contract staff on board the MV Julia at any given time.

The move has also had immediate implications for the 400 shareholders who have generously invested in the company and whose unprecedented support for the service since its inception can never be underestimated. These people need comprehensive assurances and explanations on the appointment of the examiner and the implications for them.

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