Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

I agree with the comments in the Minister of State's detailed statement. Like him, I would urge Stobart Ireland to engage properly with the drivers to achieve a proper resolution of the issues. I do not know to what extent the Minister of State is free to write to such companies to urge them to become actively involved. It would be useful if he could do this. Furthermore, it would be useful if he could urge Tesco to put pressure on Stobart Ireland to deal with the issues. This is a serious concern and if a fatal accident occurred, we would wonder why it happened and why nothing was done about the situation. It is not that Stobart does not have experience of running lorries. Long before Stobart Ireland was established, I saw Stobart trucks on the motorways of Britain and I understand the workers there have better terms than workers here. It is in everybody's interest for this issue to be sorted out. If the Minister of State can make a direct approach to Stobart Ireland, I would appreciate that. I take the Deputy's point. To be fair, however, if we can engage both sides through the industrial relations machinery, that would be the first and best course of action. As Deputy Dowds said, the Stobart group are the high kings of the transport and haulage business in the United Kingdom and now have a significant footprint in Ireland.

We want to ensure that all operators across the island are operating with a degree of corporate social responsibility and, where disputes arise, that we can work towards solutions, always using the machinery. I do not negate the right of a company to take its own ballot privately within its own structures.

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