Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the announcement last Friday of the closure by Irish Pride of its plant in Kanturk. This results in the loss of 76 full-time and 20 part-time jobs in the town.

This bakery started out as Keating's Bakery until Irish Pride took it over in 1997. Many generations of Kanturk people have worked in the industry which provided much needed employment in the town since 1914 when Keating's Bakery first opened. The closure has baffled the workers. I spoke to many of them on Friday evening and to management and local people over the weekend. They do not know why Irish Pride closed the Kanturk bakery although it was the first bakery and one of the only ones to receive the ISO 9002 award.

Yesterday on the local radio station the shop steward spoke of the shock, dismay and anger of the workers. Many of the workers who heard the news at 4 p.m. on Friday have mortgages and borrowings, and spending commitments for education and so on. It is a terrible blow to them and also to the people of Kanturk.

For some time people in the area surrounding Kanturk have been baffled by the failure of State agencies to attract industry into the area. Over the past eight or nine years I have been in constant contact with the then Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the State agencies, and more recently with the current Minister, Deputy Martin. I brought the chief executive officers of the main State agencies, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, there to try to advance the issue of creating jobs in Kanturk.

I am delighted the Minister is taking the debate in person tonight. What efforts have these State agencies made to market Kanturk? There is a great deal of employment in the surrounding towns, Millstreet, Charleville, Newmarket and Mallow. Unfortunately, we seem to have a serious problem attracting employment into Kanturk, the capital of the Duhallow region, one of the oldest and largest baronies in the country. It has a central location, although many years ago people did not think so. However it is close to Cork city, Tralee, Limerick and to the airports in Cork and Farranfore and the port of Cork. It is baffling that it is unable to sustain employment.

In 2000, after the Government announced its decision to consider towns as locations for decentralisation I made a submission to the Department of Finance suggesting Kanturk for this programme. Great credit is due to the Government for announcing its inclusion in the decentralisation programme, but that was two years ago. We need to move that agenda forward, particularly in light of the closure of the Irish Pride bakery and bring jobs into Kanturk.

I appeal to the Minister and all the agencies under the aegis of his Department to get together. I spoke on Friday afternoon to the new assistant county manager in charge of north Cork and to many agencies since then. As somebody said at the weekend it is time to get off the fence, take the finger out and take action for Kanturk. The town has many attractions as one of the central towns of Duhallow. I am fed up listening to people say they are marketing the town and so forth. It is time for real action. We need to reassure the workers who left Irish Pride on Friday evening that all the State agencies, the Government and I as a local representative, are doing all that we can to ensure employment is found for this wonderful town and people.

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