Vol. 360 No. 1
asked the Minister for Communications if the Government have considered the suggestion made in the report of the Dublin Docks Review Group that Dublin Port and Docks Board should be abolished and replaced by a restructured Dublin port authority operating as a commercial semi-State body; if the Government accept this proposal; if so, when it will be implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
2.
asked the Minister for Communications if he accepts the recommendation of the Horgan Report on the Dublin Port and Docks Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
The recommendations in the report of the Dublin Docks Review Group, under the chairmanship of Mr. John Horgan, fall into three broad categories:—
(a) Labour requirements and industrial relations: As indicated by the Minister for Labour in a statement when the report was published, these recommendations are primarily for consideration by the parties themselves, that is, Dublin Cargo Handling Limited and the unions. Negotiations have unfortunately broken down and the deep-sea section of the port has been closed since Friday evening last, 28 June. This issue was the subject of a private notice question on 27 June.
(b) Future organisation of the port of Dublin: The Government, having considered the structure of the Dublin Port and Docks Board in the light of a number of factors including the report of the Dublin Docks Review Group, have decided in principle that legislation should be prepared for the reconstitution of the Dublin Port and Docks Board to provide for a more efficient management structure and I hope to announce details of the proposed changes at an early date.
(c) The financial position of Dublin Cargo Handling Limited and the Dublin Port and Docks Board: The Government have recently decided on a financial package for the Dublin Port and Docks Board. The package is comprised of grant assistance, including £3 million in 1985, a State guarantee for borrowings, a requirement for the board to take cost cutting and revenue increasing measures and to dispose of assets.
I wish to make it clear that the financial assistance is contingent on measures to ensure industrial peace in the deep-sea section through agreement on flexible working arrangements and rationalisation of the dock labour force. These measures must be based on the industrial relations recommendations contained in the Horgan Report, including the reduction of manning levels and the removal of restrictive practices.
In conclusion, I wish to emphasise again that the Government have indicated their willingness to provide financial help, but the Government cannot of themselves solve the problems of the port. As I have stated on a few occasions already, the problems can be resolved only by the parties themselves. I trust that early solutions can be found within the framework of the Dublin Docks Review Group report and the recent Labour Court recommendations. It is essential, in the interests of all concerned, that agreement should be reached quickly and I appeal to all concerned to address themselves to that, continuously and urgently. Time is running out.
With reference to my question and the Minister's statement that legislation is in the process of being prepared, could the Minister indicate in what direction this legislation is moving? Is it to establish a semi-State company or a company on the style of the semi-State company proposed in the Horgan Report?
It is too early to speculate on the final format of the new port board. I should point out to the Deputy that we have been reviewing the entire question of ports policy for the past number of months, not just in relation to Dublin port but to ports in general. I have for some time felt that the large boards which run harbour authorities may not be any longer appropriate to this operation. This matter is under review and it is hoped that I shall be in a position to announce not legislation but proposals contained in legislation before too long.
May we take it from the Minister's reply that the Dublin port problem is being studied only with a view to legislation in the context of the overall review of the ports, are is there a special study being made of the Dublin port situation?
We have been considering the running of ports in general and we have been looking specifically at the problems of Dublin port for quite a long time. The Government have come up with a package of financial proposals to help the port and this is unprecedented. Never before has Dublin port got financial assistance from the Exchequer.
Dublin port never needed it before.
The Horgan Review Group were set up under the aegis of Mr. Horgan of the Labour Court. The parties to that group were the port and docks board on the one hand and the dockers on the other hand. They signed the report unanimously. It is vital that agreement be reached on implementation of the agreed report as quickly as possible. As I said in the concluding part of my original answer, time is running out.
In view of the statement in the Horgan report which indicated that restructuring of the board was an urgent matter given the state of the port, does the Minister propose to take any interim measures to restructure the board pending whatever legislation he will bring forward?
Without legislation my power to restructure the board is very limited. I wish to point out that the Horgan report simply dealt with one section of Dublin port. Not only has it wider implications for the rest of the port but it also has implications for other ports throughout the country. They were not taken into account, nor could they have been, by the Horgan Review Group. We are considering the implications for other ports and, as I said earlier, I expect to come to conclusions about this before too long. Then I hope I will be in a position to introduce the necessary legislation when the Dáil resumes after the summer recess.
The Minister has stated that no Government made moneys available to the Dublin Port and Docks Board up to now. Is it not true that up to comparatively recently they were paying their own way? Will the Minister state if this £3 million and the guarantee for borrowing relates only to the operations of Dublin Cargo Handling or whether it is an across-the-board application of a Government grant and a guarantee for borrowings?
I wish to confirm that what the Deputy said in the first part of his question is correct. Until comparatively recently Dublin Port and Docks Board were paying their way but that is not the case now because of the loss of traffic to the port. This is principally caused by the industrial relations problems and the uncertainty of service. That is not the only cause. Obviously the recession has played some part but a cause, and something that is within the influence of those who work in the port, relates to industrial relations. With regard to the second part of the Deputy's question, the grant which is committed by the Exchequer, and which is contingent on this agreement being reached and applied, is to the Dublin Port and Docks Board, not to Dublin Cargo Handling.
Would it not be advisable to introduce a Bill in this House — we would facilitate the Minister — if he thought new legislation would resolve this problem? The premier port in Ireland is now closed and the longer it remains closed the more damage will be done to its reputation and to the commercial life of the port and the city.
If I thought legislation would solve the problem I would bring it before this House very speedily. Unfortunately, I do not think that arises. Here we are dealing with a human problem, one of industrial relations, and I think the House will accept that problems like this are not normally soluble by legislation. In fact, legislation might impede a solution.
The trouble is that nothing is happening at the moment. The port is closed. I wonder if we could get some initiative going?
That is precisley what we have been seeking to achieve. As I have said repeatedly, and I am sure Deputy Wilson agrees with me, the next push must come from the parties to the dispute in the deep sea section of the port. The Horgan report was signed unanimously by both sides. They committed themselves to the numbers in that report. Since then, because of failure to implement the report, it has gone back to the Labour Court and they have come up with a compromise solution that favours the dockers. The dockers failed to put this to a ballot. They are out since yesterday because they have been let go by the Dublin Port and Docks Board who have no money to pay them as the Exchequer's assistance which we have offered is not, and cannot, be made available until agreement is reached. Not only do they require Exchequer money but they also require further borrowings from the banks. They will not lend money until they are sure of the viability of the port and that can only be assured by agreement between the parties involved. We cannot force that agreement but we can, and do again, plead for that agreement as a matter of urgency.
I go along with the Minister on that. The dockers discuss the matter over their pints and the management at their desks. The two sides are there but there is no movement. Could we not send a skilled intermediary to help in the matter?
With respect, we have done so. The Labour Court intervened for a second time and the parties agreed to go to the court a second time. They are very skilled intermediaries. A compromise proposal has been put forward but so far it has not worked. The union involved, the Marine Port and General Workers' Union, have failed to put the matter to a ballot of the members concerned.
I am a member of the Dublin Port and Docks Board. The deep sea section is closed. The dock workforce have disregarded totally the most recent recommendations of the Labour Court. It is not true that the management are on one side and the workforce on the other side. That is not what is happening. The management have done everything possible.
Will the Deputy please put a question?
We are now losing more business in the deep sea area and it is questionable whether we will ever regain it. Perhaps the Minister for Labour could intervene because these men will put another 300 out of work. These people are also employed in the port, not with the dock labour force.
Everything possible that can be done is and will be done. The Minister for Labour has been most active in relation to this ongoing dispute. He got the Horgan Review Group set up and he was instrumental in having the Labour Court intervene again in the past two weeks. The present position is that the Labour Court made recommendations but this was not put to the members. That is the problem. Unfortunately, it appears that the members concerned are cutting their own throats. They will not resolve this issue one way or the other.
I am not at all happy with what has been said. It appears here that the blame for the condition of the port is being put on the workforce but it is clear from what the Minister said earlier that it is a matter also for management. Can no urgent steps be taken to help in the matter, for instance, as suggested in the Horgan report, that the Dublin Port and Docks board resign and the Minister appoint commissioners? This would seek to get the port back on its feet immediately and not wait until October which is the earliest date that new legislation could be introduced here. That is too long to wait to organise the port.
Deputy De Rossa has said that the workers in the port have been blamed solely for the present impasse. If that impression has got out, it is a wrong impression. I do not think there is any sense in recrimination or laying blame at this point. Suffice to say that the parties involved need to get their act together and get agreement. Strenuous efforts have been made to achieve this and so far, despite the Labour Court's intervention twice, the matter has not been put to the members in recent times. In relation to the question of the structures, the unfortunate part of the Horgan report was that it did not address itself to nor did it involve the rest of the workforce in Dublin docks let alone the workforce and management of other ports for whom it has a great many implications. We are urgently working out these implications so that when we do introduce legislation we will have dealt with the situation around the country.
