This article is from page 12 of the 2006-11-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen has confirmed that the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) intends to issue its recommendation on a ‘survival plan’ for Shannon later this month.
In response to a Dáil question from Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent, Minister Cullen said that the LRC had recently overseen an intense round of negotiations between unions and management.
Both unions and management declined to comment on the talks, which have taken place under an LRC-imposed blackout on press covAER ARANN is to abandon its link between Shannon and Dublin for the second time.
The decision leaves Shannon as the only national airport without a connection to the capital.
The pull-out comes days after Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, told a gathering of Clare business people that an early-morning link to Dublin was erage.
Minister Cullen said: “If Shannon Airport is to develop as a successful and sustainable business, it is clear that one of the issues that must be addressed in its business plan is the airport’s very high cost base.
“Negotiations with the unions at Shannon on the cost cutting changes that would be required to ensure the viability of the airport have been underway for some time now.
“In this, the parties have been helped by the Labour Relations Commission, the Labour Court and the National Implementation Body.”
The talks between unions and management have been ongoing for vital.
Now the Shannon Chamber of Commerce has called for the route to be subsidised, as is the case in Kerry, Cork and Galway. The airline has taken the decision because passenger numbers on the route are so low as to be uneconomical.
Changing the current flight time to earlier in the day wouldn’t work because an earlier time would be impossible under Aer Arann’s aircraft one year and in September, the offer of a €30 million ‘survival plan’ for Shannon was withdrawn by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) after unions failed to ballot members on the offer.
The move by both parties to accept the invitation of the chief executive of the LRC, Kieran Mulvey followed the intervention of the National Implementation Body (NIB).
The NIB has imposed a four week deadline for the talks to be completed. At the start of the talks, the DAA’s Director for Change, John Horgan confirmed that the €30 million was no longer on the table. The two sides have held over 50 meetings scheduling, according to the airline.
Speaking to the Shannon Chamber of Commerce dinner on Friday, Enda Kenny said that he would give every encouragement to any airline that would take on an early service from Shannon the Dublin.
“This is extremely important to facilitate business. This has been said to me time and again as I met people on this visit. Passengers need to be able to get to Dublin in time to do in the past year, with the DAA warning that large cost savings will have to be made to avoid Shannon losing €130 million over the next 10 years.
The DAA’s plan for Shannon includes cutting the workforce of 520 through 200 voluntary redundancies and to out-source work at a number of areas at the airport, including catering.
In the deal that was on the table, the workers who opted to remain in their jobs were to receive lump payments of up to €10,000. The voluntary redundancy package gives staff with over 24 years experience a €100,000 pay-off, while it also entitles workers to their company pensions at 55. business and get back the same day.”
Chamber Chief Executive, Triona McInerney said that there was still, “a real need for an alternative method of transport between this area and Dublin. This is evidenced by the number of Clare people who fly from Galway.”
Ms McInerney said that the chamber “would be happy to facilitate focus groups for any airline thinking of setting up a route. But it would have to be planned to be responsive to the needs of the business community, taking into account office hours and the time it takes to get from Dublin Airport into the city.”
She added that the route, “should be subsidised. This is the case in other airports under the Public Service Obligation.”
The Fine Gael leader also outlined his proposal to site a Transatlantic Foundation in Shannon to “draw together academia, politics and business with a view to conflict resolution.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, is to make a fresh bid to clinch a bi-lateral deal between Ireland and the US while the Open Skies agreement is on hold.
The deal would see the current practice of having one flight to or from Shannon for every flight to or from Dublin dropped in favour of one Shannon flight for every three Dublin flights and access for Aer Lingus to three new US gateways.