Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

This morning Greencore announced plans for a €1.1 billion development on the site of the old sugar plant at Carlow. I hope, in principle, that appropriate development will take place there and that it will contribute to the regeneration of Carlow and employment at the site. Last night I had the opportunity to meet the former workers of Greencore who explained to me in respect of the recent redundancy that the company had refused to implement the Labour Court recommendation. They went back three times to the Labour Court for clarification and on three occasions Greencore refused to implement the recommendation. The court has unequivocally set out that the interpretation of the workers is the correct interpretation. Despite that, Greencore has come up with an interpretation that leaves the workers I met last night in Carlow, on average, €25,000 short. A total of €4.4 million is owed to the workers under the Labour Court recommendation. The company has refused to attend the national implementation body and has left the workers hanging.

Is it acceptable that a major public company, which incidentally did proportionately well out of the compensation fund as compared to how growers and workers fared, should plan a €1.1 billion development at the Carlow site while owing €4.4 million to the manual workers at Mallow and Carlow? An argument also exists about why the Government permitted Greencore to shut this plant when it might have been adapted for bio-fuels.

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