The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Martin, has appealed to both sides in the Irish Ferries dispute to "stop sparring, get on with it and get into the Labour Relations Commission".
Despite repeated entreaties from the Opposition for the Minister to get involved in the dispute over the company's decision to outsource crew on its Rosslare route to France, Mr Martin insisted such a move would be counterproductive.
"I'm not interested in grandstanding," he told the Dáil, during a special notice debate on the issue. He pointed out that an agreement had been hammered out in 1994 on wages and rights. Allegations had been made that this procedure had been breached, "and for some reason this hasn't been taken up".
The dispute was damaging, and the key issue was to get both sides into talks, he said, adding that it was not always the best move if the Minister got involved.
Labour's marine spokesman, Mr Tommy Broughan, said that under the 1990 Industrial Relations Act, the Minister could intervene directly in a dispute if it was affecting the public interest.
But Mr Martin said this "unique power" had not been used in decades. There was still an opportunity for both sides to get involved with the industrial relations machinery, and the dispute would end up in the Labour Relations Commission or the Labour Court.
On Monday the company began laying off staff as a strike by ships' officers got under way over the plan to outsource crew on its MV Normandy service. Mr Broughan said that what had happened was "effectively a lockout".
The Dublin North East TD described Irish Ferries' outsourcing move as the "yellow-packing" of jobs to workers in eastern Europe. It was regrettable, wrong and unnecessary, he said, because it was a profitable company, and "the chief executive gave himself a bonus of half a million".
The Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins (Dublin West), called on Mr Martin to "get off the fence and stand by workers' rights".
