Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I join my colleagues from Waterford in expressing the condolences of the Green Party to the workers of Waterford Crystal. It must be a bleak and difficult night in the town of Dungarvan, which I know well, with the future looking much more precarious and uncertain.

A company operating in international markets is subject to the vagaries of international forces and there is no doubt that recent exchange rate changes have put significant pressure on Waterford Crystal. We must view this unfortunate turn of events for the company as a symbol of developments across the country over the last 15 years. It was interesting to read the Enterprise Strategy Review Group report on the performance of the Irish economy and the fantastic growth the Government has celebrated which was published last summer. While the exports of foreign direct investment companies increased dramatically, the graph depicting the exports of goods manufactured by indigenous firms had remained completely static.

Since the report was published, we have seen a dramatic reversal in the fortunes of indigenous manufacturing companies. The Government and Dáil should be very concerned. While we are told by economic commentators and Members on the opposite benches that all is well and that we have service industries, extensive building in a boom period and a small number of very profitable foreign companies, a balanced, stable long-term future requires indigenous companies like Waterford Crystal.

Through the skilled hands of its workers, indigenous crafts and its marketing staff, Waterford Crystal was able to perform at the highest level internationally. It is noticeable that there are now very few Irish companies producing manufactured products which stand on the world stage. Waterford Crystal was one of the last and its difficulties are a sign that Irish manufacturing is in trouble. Rather than brush the matter aside and suggest we will be sustained by the service and construction industries and a small number of multinational companies, the Government should heed the warning that a flagship company is in trouble. It is a mere symbol of very significant losses of manufacturing jobs over the last 15 years, especially in recent times. I have heard nothing from the Government as to how it intends to address the problem.

As well as looking for solutions in the short term or immediate locality of Waterford for the workers of Waterford Crystal, I am also concerned to hear what the Government plans to do on a broad basis across the economy.

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