As the Minister for Education has not arrived, agreement has been reached, contrary to the normal arrangements, that the question to the Minister for Tourism and Transport will be taken first. Deputy Gay Mitchell has ten minutes.
Adjournment Debate. - B & I Industrial Dispute.
I appreciate the co-operation of the House in this matter. First, I wish to pay tribute to the management and unions in B & I for their activities in the past in helping to turn around the company. However, this was done with the help of a considerable injection of taxpayers' funds. More recently, this House approved the recommendation of the Minister to invest yet another £6 million in this company. The company have plans to expand their interests. However, there are also proposals on the horizon for a take-over of B & I by another Irish company. Recently we read that it will cost £5 million to modify and repair the MV Munster. This has to be set against the fact that the ship was leased for a portion of that amount and yet it will take an additional £5 million to make it seaworthy. This £5 million investment has to be set against the company's performance in recent years: in 1987 the company had losses of £3.6 million; they made a profit of £2.8 million in 1989, and it is expected that they will make a profit of £6.9 million in 1990. That is before exceptional items and interest are charged to the accounts. We have to ask ourselves what is going on in B & I? The State has been very tolerant. This House has been tolerant. We have given them the opportunity to recover and to show their worth. We have told them that we approve of what the unions and management have been doing and we will encourage them as long as they continue down the road. Only three weeks ago we gave them an additional £6 million. Now we find they have taken delivery of a ship which will cost £5 million to modify and that there is a strike in the company.
There are 150 people out of work already with the possibility of an extra 500 people this evening if the Labour Court discussions are not satisfactory. I think it is time this House says to B & I management and unions that "enough is enough and we will not tolerate any further disputes of this kind".
This company cannot afford those disputes. Not only were the people who expected to travel on the ship inconvenienced but there has been a dramatic loss of revenue since last Saturday when sailings were cancelled. The passengers who have been inconvenienced may be lost to B & I for ever. They may say they will never travel with B & I again as there is another carrier they can use. Presumably a number of those people used the other carrier.
B & I are not operating on all fours and they are not in a position to hold anybody to ransom. This applies to management as much as to the unions. I cannot say why the dispute got to this stage and why the public have been so inconvenienced and the company's revenue put in danger, but I know this cannot be tolerated.
In my view the action taken was precipitate. I do not know where the blame lies, it could be with either management or unions or on both sides, but it seems to me that the Minister should sit down with both the unions and management — whatever the outcome of the Labour Court discussions, which I welcome — and say to them that this cannot happen again. If necessary the Minister should consult with the company which is seeking to take over or merge with B & I to see whether the company can be turned around and made profitable without putting the State to further expense. The State is out on a limb. If this company fail all the investment by the State goes down the drain. Nobody in the House would like to see that happening. I want to see an end to this dispute and I hope by the end of the day we will see an end to it. It is time that B & I were told to get their act together, because if they do not and the Minister finds he needs to take executive action, Fine Gael will consider supporting him in that action. It has to be made very clear to all concerned that the State or this House cannot continue to vote an endless supply of money to support B & I if they do not make substantial efforts to guarantee the future of the company.
I want to put down a marker that the State has made a substantial investment in the company and we need peace and good industrial relations and positive attitudes in the company as well as the support of all personnel who have a contribution to make if the company are to survive in the long term. That marker must go down today that we want no repetition of this dispute and that an early solution to this problem must be found.
I am pleased to be able to announce formally to the House that I have just heard from the Labour Court that a satisfactory resolution to the dispute has now been accepted by both parties. This will enable an immediate return of B & I shipping services under full, normal working conditions and the examination of the matter in dispute by the Labour Court.
I take this opportunity of thanking workers, staff and management in B & I for their patience in this matter. I wish to acknowledge on the Government's behalf that the matter has been resolved. I wish to take this opportunity in the Dáil to reassure customers and the public at large that B & I are back in business from tomorrow morning. It is quite possible that they will be able to take freight tonight. I want to make it clear that from tomorrow morning B & I are back in business.
While acknowledging the good work on both sides to settle the dispute, I would like to state quite clearly on the Government's behalf and on my own behalf: "Let us have no repeat of this type of dispute". I share the Opposition Deputy's concern about the dispute and the way it went. The company carry a major portion of tourist and freight traffic across the Irish Sea. They also provide important freight services to continental Europe. The sudden withdrawal of services causes inconvenience and quite frankly our economy cannot afford these disruptions. In particular our exporters cannot afford them. They need certainty most of all and anything that undermines their confidence affects our export and trading abilities.
I take this opportunity quite openly of thanking Sealink, who stepped into the breach in recent days and were of considerable assistance. It is clear that this strike and other disruptions in B & I of late are beginning to damage the company. I am quite convinced that the company will simply not survive in today's demanding market environment if they cannot guarantee the continuity of their services. The House will recall that earlier this year both Houses of the Oireachtas agreed to provide additional equity of up to £6 million in 1990, bringing the total Government funding over three years to £17 million.
I want to repeat what I said in Cork last evening, that in the past ten years £80 million of taxpayers' money has been invested in the B & I line. It is quite clear that that type of funding could not be continued. I have already told the company that it is my objective — and I know they share this objective — to get the company into a position where they will no longer require State funding, and the sooner that happens the better. I have already announced in this House that I am considering that matter and that I do not rule out any option in regard to the future of the company. Whatever direction we take, I am convinced it will be for the betterment of the company and the staff, all those who work in B & I. Again I want to take this opportunity of thanking them for seeing the light, as it were, for thinking again, as I asked them to do yesterday, and for displaying in recent hours a lot of common sense. To take any other course of action or to prolong this dispute would have been a suicide mission. All involved in B & I deserve our admiration for thinking again and stepping back from the brink. I know the Deputies opposite join with me in welcoming that development.