‘Taxpayers should not cover Irish Ferries’ layoffs’

TAXPAYERS’ money must not be used to facilitate Irish Ferries’ policy of replacing Irish staff with low-paid alternatives, SIPTU president Jack O’Connor demanded last night.

Speaking after it emerged that the Department of Enterprise may have to pay up to €7m in rebates as Irish Ferries plans more than 500 redundancies, Mr O’Connor called for urgent action from Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin.

“Public money should not be used to facilitate unscrupulous employers seeking to replace workers with agreed pay and conditions by vulnerable recruits paid much lower rates,” he said.