Irish Ferries' France service to be crewed by third party
Irish Continental Group has announced that its ferries division is restructuring its service between Ireland and France in order to reduce costs and maintain competitiveness.
The volume of cars carried on the Ireland/France route has fallen 7% in the year to date compared with 2003.
The decision, which is a consequence of demand in the market place for lower fares, together with additional competition from sea and air carriers, will see crewing of the Ireland/France service transferred to a third-party staffing agency who will employ fully-qualified EU crew.
It follows a restructuring of crew rosters, principally on the Irish Sea, during 2004, which, the company says, has enhanced competitiveness on the Ireland/UK routes.
The change will involve a reduction in directly-employed seagoing staff of approximately 150 people, of whom approximately 125 are permanent and 25 are long-service temporary staff.
A number of seasonally-employed personnel will also be affected. Irish Ferries employs a total of 1,200 people.
A voluntary severance package, to meet the requisite number of seagoing staffing reductions, will be offered throughout the fleet.
Personnel from the Ireland/France service who decide not to avail of the voluntary severance package will be offered a transfer to the Irish Sea ships.
Irish Continental's shares on the ISEQ were trading at €10.48 at noon today, the same price as it started the day, after having dropped 2c in early trading.
