Bord Fβilte staff moving to the new North-South body, Tourism Ireland Ltd, have sought letters of comfort from the Department of Finance which will protect their incomes and pensions entitlements.
Tourism Ireland is a private-sector organisation and the Bord Fβilte staff are looking for the same reassurances as TEAM Aer Lingus workers received when ownership of the State-owned aircraft maintenance company was transferred to a privately owned Danish company, FLS.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance told The Irish Times the letters of comfort had been issued. However, SIPTU, which represents most of the 100 Bord Fβilte staff members involved, wants clarification on their standing. About 100 Bord Fβilte staff are involved in the changeover.
Mr Brian Fitzgerald, the SIPTU official negotiating on behalf of Bord Fβilte, could not be reached for comment.
Mr John Brown, Bord Fβilte's public relations manager, said it was absolutely normal that staff leaving the semi-State sector would seek letters of comfort from the Department of Finance about their future conditions of employment. The important thing, Mr Brown added, was that next year's overseas marketing drive for Irish tourism was not affected.
At the Dublin inauguration of Tourism Ireland last month, Sir Reg Empey, the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland, said the combination of food-and-mouth and the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11th made its task of creating a new brand and marketing programmes especially difficult. Significant revisions of proposed marketing plans for 2002 would have to be made, Sir Reg added.
Bord Fβilte is estimating that that overseas tourist numbers will fall by between 10 per cent and 19 per cent in the months between September and December 2001. The outlook for next year is heavily dependent on the commitment of airlines and car ferries to maintain capacity on their routes into Ireland.
Meanwhile, negotiations will continue in the new year to merge the remaining operations of Bord Fβilte and CERT, the training body for the catering industry.
Industry sources said considerable savings could be made by the amalgamation of two head offices, although considerable personnel problems could be expected in concluding the proposed merger.