Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 72: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the ongoing industrial action by workers in a company (details supplied) regarding a decision by the company to outsource 130 jobs; if consultation has been sought with the Labour Relations Commission in a bid to retain jobs; if she will clarify if this company has reneged on previous agreements with unions; if she will take steps to ensure that workers' rights are being protected during industrial action; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35379/09]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The background to this dispute is that last June, Coca Cola HBC announced its decision to outsource those remaining elements of its distribution and warehousing operations that had previously been done in-house, affecting 130 of its employees spread across six sites: Dublin, Cork, Killarney, Tipperary town, Tuam and Waterford. I understand that the workers were advised that they could choose between taking redundancy or transferring to three new outsourced contractors on the same terms and conditions.

I am aware that there have been extensive efforts to resolve this dispute and the services of both the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court have been utilised by the parties. Most recently, a Labour Court hearing was conducted on 18 September pursuant to Section 20(1) of the 1969 Industrial Relations Act, which makes the Court's recommendation binding on the party that brought the case, in this case SIPTU. The Labour Court issued its recommendation on 21 September. The Labour Court recommended that the company should offer a redundancy package along the lines envisaged in the SIPS (Single Island Production System) deal that had been negotiated between the company and the union in recent years. The Court also recommended that the company and the union should have further discussions on the union's proposal to conduct a feasibility study in relation to the Dublin facility.

I understand that the company decided not to accept the Court's recommendation. I regret that the company has not found it possible to accept in full the recommendations made by the Labour Court to help resolve this dispute. I recognise that the company may be under extreme financial pressures in the current climate. However, continued engagement with the State's industrial relations machinery offers, in my view, the best way whereby the parties involved in this dispute can hope to resolve their differences.