Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I wish to speak on the imminent closure of the Irish Sugar plant in Mallow, County Cork. The issue is important to me not only because I represent 300 full-time and part-time workers whose jobs are to be lost but because I was an employee at the factory for 18 years. The Mallow plant has been in operation for generations, yet the closure is part of an emerging pattern in the Irish employment market whereby the Government is giving up on traditional industries that have sustained communities for many years.

Mere sentiment and nostalgia are not my motivation in calling on the Minister for Agriculture and Food to account for her role in the closure of the plant. Rather, the Government failed the employees of Irish Sugar and the people of Mallow by failing to argue the case for the Irish sugar industry at the meeting of the EU Agriculture Ministers in Brussels last December, when the future of the EU sugar regime was decided. Since that meeting and before and after the announcement of the closure of the plant there has been a conspiracy of silence on the Minister's negotiating position in Brussels. The Minister for Agriculture and Food agreed to cut the price of Irish sugar by 36% but the Finnish Government, representing a country with a similar demographic structure to Ireland, was able to retain the beet industry, guarantee a higher price and arrange a special deal with Brussels.

It appears Ireland negotiated for an enhanced compensation package without considering the viability of the industry. If the Finns could retain the industry in their country, why could the Irish not do likewise? The Minister has failed to answer this and has offered no explanation for the negotiating stance adopted at the meeting. From December the closure of the plant appeared inevitable and the outcome of the EU Agriculture Council allowed Greencore to blame the closure on the Irish Government when it made the announcement a few weeks ago. After the announcement and the platitudes and crocodile tears that followed, the emphasis has been on providing for growers, Greencore and contractors during the restructuring phase rather than on saving the jobs. Very little has been done for employees.

The Taoiseach and the Government have a duty to account for the Government's position last December that led to the demise of the industry. Some 3,700 beet growers, mainly in the Mallow area, believe the issue was badly handled by the Government. Greencore seems more obsessed with its own shareholders than concerned with the soon to be redundant workforce. I hope to receive an explanation for the sake of the workers but given the way the matter has been handled to date I expect more evasion.

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