Irish Ferries accused of breaking assurances on jobs

A number of Irish Ferries workers who hoped to remain on with the company have reportedly been told their jobs are being cut despite assurances they say they were given to the contrary.

Irish Ferries agreed to keep on 48 permanent workers with their terms and conditions protected under a recent Labour Court agreement on its plans to replace existing staff with cheaper labour from abroad.

However, reports this morning said it had informed a small number of workers who were hoping to be covered by the deal that the maximum limit had been reached and they would be made redundant.

One of the workers is claiming to have received assurances from management that he would be kept on following the controversial outsourcing plan.

He is now accusing the company of "changing the goalposts", but Irish Ferries is insisting that trade unions were fully aware of what it planned to do in respect of the affected workers.