Joe O'Toole (Independent)

This House has noted on a number of occasions that by dint of co-operation between unions, management, business, Government and all interested parties we have the best strike record in Europe. That has been hard won. It has been achieved through a long, hard-sweated process of negotiations, engagement and the building up of trust and confidence. This has ensured that people have sought to find a solution and structures were in place to find solutions via arbitration, mediation or whatever else to bring matters of conflict to a resolution without resorting to the withdrawal of labour through strike action unless it was absolutely unavoidable. In that sense it has been difficult for all sides.

What we are now witnessing and envisaging from Irish Ferries is worrying, not only in terms of what it has done but also its attitude. We saw what it did to the hairdresser two years ago and we now see what it has attempted to do to staff in recent months — to get rid of all of them. Its view is inspired by greed to hold everything to itself and to refuse to share whatever profits are being created. It is now putting at risk a significant structure of partnership and trust. This is something we should debate so that people will see the road we are going down.

When push comes to shove and the union takes the final decision that will be required of it to call industrial action, people will stand up in the House and ask why we are at that point. We are at it because Irish Ferries is refusing to accept the outcome of the Labour Court process, which has been established by the State in order to bring to a conclusion intractable industrial relations disputes. Irish Ferries should be urged to listen to the court and accept its recommendations.

We are all aware of the extraordinary case in Mayo where a would-be burglar was shot dead, the farmer who owned the property and who killed him now finds himself in jail and two families are suffering. There are possibilities of the matter continuing further as threats have been made. A call has been made for demonstrations, etc. It is time we reminded ourselves how our democracy works. Under the Constitution people have an entitlement even to the extent of taking life to guard themselves against attack from wherever it might come. That is duly respected. In the event of that being challenged, there is a process whereby people go to court, the law is explained and 12 citizens make a decision as to what the outcome should be. I share the concern for all parties in this issue but I am more concerned that democracy would be threatened by large organisations, which have given a lot in their own way, that would get involved in something to undermine the application of justice under the Constitution. We must recognise where we are. It is a terrible outcome all round but let us not make it worse.