I move:
That Dáil Éireann calls on the Government, in view, of the B & I Company's announced decision to abandon the Cork-Pembroke Service, to ensure that a full, regular and round the year service be provided as soon as possible between Cork and South Wales, such as operated satisfactorily for more than ten years between Cork and Swansea, and pending this outcome to ensure that a service be provided immediately by the B & I Company for the remainder of 1983 in accordance with their contractual obligations.
An amendment has been tabled to this motion which I reject as being inadequate. I call on the Minister to honour, as a matter of extreme urgency, the motion as I and my colleagues have presented it. I do so because the amendment certainly does not take account of the problem which exists in Cork. There has been a traditional link with the Welsh coast for 150 years or more, and once a service like that ends the danger is that people will forget it ever existed and it will become very difficult to start it again.
The wording of the amendment is amazing. It proposes to delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
notes the decision of the B & I company to close the Cork-Pembroke Ferry Service as part of its plan to reverse its serious loss-making situation; notes also that since the decision was conveyed to the Government in October, 1982, it was not found possible by successive Governments to recommend a reversal of this decision....
That is laughable. My colleague will be able to explain later in the debate the role of the Minister in this and the fact that the Minister's approval was needed before the service could be discontinued. Deputy Jim Mitchell, Minister for Transport, is the man responsible. I am asking that the service should be continued in 1983 to meet the contractual commitments of the company and after that I am advocating the establishment of a permanent link. I have some suggestions as to how that link could be established. We realise the continuing need for this ferry in the interests of Cork, Kerry and the entire region.
I now refer to the employment situation. The total shore employment was 65 and 45 of those have been notified of redundancy, at a time when Cork can ill-afford any further unemployment. I understand that 56 people employed on ship will become redundant and we are probably talking about a total of 120 people. That is only the beginning. Many people are employed in related jobs throughout the region. The Government have an investment of about £30 million in B & I. The most suitable and successful service operated between Cork and South Wales was the Cork-Swansea link which operated for about ten years to 1978 or 1979. The tourist industry, which is so dependent on this service, is probably at its lowest ebb. Recent budget increases, particularly in VAT, will hit that industry very hard. We know that the Hotels Federation had been lobbying for a reduction in the 18 per cent rate of VAT but instead it has been increased to 23 per cent. This may well be a body blow to the tourist industry in the Cork-Kerry region, which is worth £117 million. There are some areas within the region which are almost entirely dependent on tourism, particularly the peninsulas of Cork and Kerry where there is little other income to be derived.
The traditional link between Cork and South Wales is remembered with sadness by many families whose relatives had to emigrate. Then there were the years when emigration turned to immigration and people began to come home, many on the Innisfallen. All the decisions taken by the company since the ending of the Cork-Swansea link have amounted to a run-down of the service.
The tourist industry in the region employs 18,000 people directly, but that is only part of the story because many other people are dependent on it. The region accounts for a very substantial part of our entire tourist industry and provides 27 per cent of our tourist accommodation. Of our hotels, 23.6 per cent are in the Cork-Kerry region, as well as 32 per cent of guesthouses, 20 per cent of town houses, 30 per cent of country homes and 31.3 per cent of farm guesthouses. Is it to be imagined that the occupancy rate of that accommodation will not suffer? Of course, it will. I do not want to be divisive as between Cork and Rosslare but I reject that argument that people will still come to Cork and Kerry in the same numbers through Rosslare. That is not feasible and that is why there is an obligation on B & I to re-establish immediately a service to complete the 1983 contractual commitments to be followed by a permanent link with the Welsh coast.
This is the largest tourist region in Ireland and it depends to a great extent on income from tourists. I accept that the company introduced a five-year plan in 1977 and at that time it was announced that the intention was to introduce a continental service from 1980. That scheme was opposed by Irish Shipping Limited and the Fianna Fáil Government of the day did not see fit to give permission to B & I for it. A very fine ship built in Verolme Dockyard, the Connacht, was put on the Cork-Swansea route with great expectations. I am not sure if the management of B & I took a positive decision then regarding Cork but certainly everything that happened after that seemed to be aimed at running down the service from that harbour. I should like to add that the Joint Committee on State-Sponsored Bodies who examined the position recommended that there should be consultation and co-ordination between B & I and Irish Shipping Limited with a view to getting the maximum benefit from both companies in the national interest. At first sight such a suggestion would appear to mean many advantages. The Government have a responsibility to ensure that all schemes are explored to the maximum with a view to restoring the service, perhaps by the companies joining forces, to the successful one it was on the Cork-Swansea route.
The Fianna Fáil Government did not allow B & I to embark on a continental service and it appears that following that a decision was made to withdraw from Cork. I do not wish to deal at length with the decision to purchase the jetfoil but suffice to say that it has been described since as a major mistake. Obviously the jetfoil if it was not a success on the English Channel route would not be successful on the Irish Sea which is a lot rougher. I understand that the cost of having that craft in dry dock is in the region of £900,000 per annum. What an awful mistake to have made and I have no doubt that the failure of that scheme was a contributory factor in the decision to discontinue the B & I service out of Cork.
The successful years for the B & I came to an end in 1979 when the company decided to change its base on the Welsh coast from Swansea to Pembroke. Those who availed of the route to Swansea are aware of the good facilities on the Welsh side, the M4 to London, the motorway through Birmingham to the midlands and the hourly train service to London. Swansea was also a very attractive town for shopping and for that reason the service was availed of by many organisations who brought their members on shopping expeditions. I am not suggesting that we should encourage shopping trips abroad but if such trips help to maintain jobs at home we must look at them in a different light. Pembroke never proved to be an attractive shopping centre. We were told that in changing the destination from Swansea to Pembroke the B & I management took into consideration the tidal problem at Swansea and the advantage of a shorter sea crossing. Whatever about those factors management's decision spelt the death knell of the service from Cork to the Welsh coast. The Pembroke service was less attractive and the advantage of the shorter crossing time was more than negatived by the road conditions on the other side and the lack of adequate facilities. I suspect that there was a little bit of thickness involved on both sides and with a little common sense and foresight the tidal problem could have been overcome and the move from Swansea to Pembroke need never have taken place. My view is that the only reason for the change was to facilitate the service from Rosslare to the Welsh coast which was due to commence in 1980. I am not trying to be divisive as between Cork and Rosslare and I have no objection to any further developments at Rosslare but I object to discrimination in favour of a Rosslare crossing as against a crossing from Cork.
I am sure the business people of Swansea would welcome a return of the ferry service which I hope B & I and Irish Shipping Limited will organise. Since 1979 B & I have been pretending to give a service but have been providing one that was not accommodating and unsuitable from the point of view of those using it. Twelve months ago I attended a protest meeting and I heard a man who had used the service for many years saying that he would use air travel in future because of the decision to move from Swansea to Pembroke.
B & I had ten very successful years. They carried about a million people and 200,000 cars in that period. All the people concerned in B & I should note that and, if mistakes have been made, to reverse the decision which has been so damaging. I can give last year's figures for the Cork-Swansea service: 51,000 cars and 219,000 passengers.
It is true to say that management consulted the works committee representing all the works' interests in Cork. They told them they were linking Rosslare with the Welsh coast, with the advantages of its being a shorter sea route and that they could compete with British Rail on equal terms, and that the costs at Pembroke could be shared by the two services. Whatever advantages those may have been, the travelling public were being more and more inconvenienced. The company claimed that Rosslare would be profitable and would not interfere with them. The workers were assured that this would be a move in their interests rather than being, as it now transpires, effectively the end of their employment with that company. The work force saw Rosslare as a help. They were given these commitments by the company. I am sorry to say those commitments did not materialise and, instead of being a profitable organisation, Rosslare lost £1 million in 1981 while the Cork losses were £1.1 million.
The cut backs then began to take place. In 1979 there were 265 round trips from Cork. In 1980 there were 258. In 1981 there were 187. In 1982 there were 156. In 1982 there was one ship on the Cork-Rosslare-Pembroke sea routes. I think the term they used was forked sailings. A serious deficiency in the Cork situation was that there were no night and weekend sailings. They are the most profitable and they are also the most attractive. They are the most likely to be used.
We are talking about something which is almost as traditional in Cork as Shandon Bells. I do not think Deputies on the other side of the House will disagree with me when I say that. The sailing of the Innishfallen was almost traditional. Modernisation was needed. I suggest that the Cork-Swansea sailings in that ten year period were extremely successful and showed a profit. They must have been of major benefit to tourism in the whole region during that period. No night and no weekend sailings were allowed to the Cork people. They did not get that facility. Obviously that meant they used other sailings if they were going for a weekend. It appeared to be another effort to run down Cork.
We talk about our road conditions, the cost of maintaining and improving our roads, and the high incidence of death on the roads. The extra volume of heavy traffic generated from whatever seaport to Cork since the running down of this ferry connection began is amazing. In a radio interview recently I said that one morning at about 7 a.m. or 7.30 a.m. between Mitchelstown and Kilbeheny, a very short distance indeed, I met five or six loaded B & I containers on their way from Dublin to Cork. This was business which could have been handled successfully by the company in Cork.
Some people suggest that attractions were offered to people who were prepared to use Larne-Stranraer. No effort was made to sell or promote the Cork ferry. In this forked service the ship usage was 30 per cent Cork and 70 per cent Rosslare. Yet Cork accounted for 48 per cent of the cars and 61 per cent of the passengers carried. I do not begrudge Rosslare the service, but there are a number of ferry services on the east coast and there is none now on the south coast.
I hope the Minister will agree with this motion, not the amendment. The amendment is not acceptable. It cannot be tolerated or accepted. The motion is very clear and reasonable. It does not ask for the indefinite continuance of a service which may not be profit-making. It asks for the continuance of a temporary service to accommodate the 1983 situation and, while that is being done, to promote and provide for a properlink on a permanent basis with South Wales and embracing some of the improvements or some of the restorations.
If people have to admit they were wrong in their decisions why not do so; if that is in the interest of employment and the entire Cork region? This was the only ferry catering for the south coast. I hope Irish Shipping, or a combination, or whatever, will operate it as a permanent link, subject to the immediate need in 1983. The two companies could be amalgamated. People may talk about recessions, but they do not last forever. It is incredible to think that a vital link with the tourist region of Cork-Kerry, our biggest tourist region, should be lost. This industry was worth £117 million last year. It employed 18,000 people. It was of huge benefit to the region. It is being dealt a body blow. Once a service is ended, the travel agents and the promoters are inclined to forget about it and not restore it to their literature or to their thoughts when promoting tourism. When it dies, it is very difficult to restore. The advantages in amalgamation are many. The workforce of the B & I in Cork are very loyal and have been concerned about this matter long before today. This is very much a Cork-Kerry regional problem and is a body blow to that area. The sharing of ships, termini, personnel, shore facilities and jobs could have many advantages if they were amalgamated.
In a public advertisement in the press in June 1981 Fine Gael guaranteed the future of the B & I terminal. In November 1982 a meeting was held with all political parties and a spokesman for Fine Gael said that in Government his party would ensure the continuance of a car ferry service run by a semi-State body, which was a very significant statement. The basis of our motion is to provide a car ferry service run by a semi-State body. We are not saying it should be carried on indefinitely but at least for 1983. It is scandalous that the Government should have permitted B & I to award a major service contract, worth about £650,000, to a British dockyard in preference to their own, as we know that there will be redundancies in Verolme dockyard. I hope also that the Russian contracts which are promised will materialise.
I referred to the fact that there is a £30 million Government investment in B & I, the link between Cork and the Welsh coast. It is absurd that the Government should have allowed that contract to be placed elsewhere than Verolme. Surely both companies, being in receipt of substantial State aid, should have been able to come to some understanding, or were there other, hidden reasons connected with the motion before us? In the present state of the economy and the high rate of unemployment, we cannot afford the luxury of contracts being placed outside the State.
I think I have made a reasonable case as to why the motion before us should be adhered to. The motion is not asking for the impossible, nor for the indefinite continuation of something that is not profitable. I understand that ships are available which could be used for 1983 mainly in the interests of tourism in the region. We are aware that the Blarney Hotel has recently had cancellations because of difficulties with the ferry service, I presume in relation to the discontinuance of this link. This link has lasted for more than 150 years and should be preserved. It means so much in direct employment to the region and its loss is a body blow to the tourist industry, parts of which are utterly dependent on tourism to carry them through the winter months.
We know ICL are commencing sailings to the Continent from the Cork port. I have not gone into harbour development, the investment in Cork harbour and the pressure B & I exercised on the harbour board to shorten the sailing distance. Now they will say they meant Cobh, not Ringaskiddy. From the point of view of B & I, I cannot understand what difference the two places made to them. Admittedly, there are other problems. Money has been invested in roads but much more needs to be done. They have now discontinued service and it was this Minister that allowed it to happen. My colleague in the House will be able to state categorically what was before them but the decision not to continue the service was taken by the present Minister. He said he spends holidays in Cork. We will welcome him every time he comes but we will give him an extra welcome if he accedes to my request to continue the B & I service for 1983 and, while that is going on, to prepare a proper link by the amalgamation of the companies.
