Marine Minister, Pat the Cope Gallagher T.D., this morning in Brussels met with his UK counterpart on Maritime Transport issues, Dr. Steven Ladyman, the Minister of State for Transport in the Department for Transport. The two Ministers discussed the Irish Ferries situation and their concerns for maritime employment in the UK and Ireland and particularly on Irish Sea routes.
The Ministers agreed that they would carry out a joint analysis of the implications of a possible bi-lateral agreement between the UK and Ireland, on pay and conditions for employees on ferries operating between the two countries, regardless of the operator or the flag of the vessel.
Following the meeting, Minister Gallagher raised the issue at the Maritime Transport Council later that day urging the Commission to consider re-visiting the former proposal on pay and conditions on ferries operating between member states, which was withdrawn by the Commission in 2004.
"Although we recognise that many nations, including Ireland, had reservations about certain aspects of the Directive at the time, we believe that these concerns can be addressed by the Commission. Failure to act in this area could lead to the replacement of seafarers right across the European Community by workers from third countries, working for unacceptably low pay rates, possibly with lower qualifications than we would wish seafarers to have on our vital ferry routes," said the Minister.
Minister Gallagher also asked other Member States to reflect on the current Irish situation and to consider if they might also face a similar challenge in the not too distant future, as ferry operators seek competitive advantage in the area of seafarers' pay and working conditions.
Responding to the Minister’s intervention, the Commission indicated that it would continue to study all possible solutions aimed at safeguarding employment in the maritime sector. The Commission would also continue to pursue the implementation of International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards into Community law and to encourage discussion on this issue within the framework of the European Social Dialogue.
Finally, Minister Gallagher expressed his satisfaction at the re-engagement by Irish Ferries with the Labour Relations Commission: "I welcome the recent decision of Irish Ferries to re-engage with the industrial relations mechanisms of the State. I hope that calm heads will prevail throughout the negotiations and that a resolution to the current dispute will be found. It is obviously of great detriment to the state that a large amount of our normal freight capacity is currently unavailable to our exporters and I hope that this dispute can be resolved quickly in view of the risk of irreparable damage to our economy," he concluded.
Ends