Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Michael Smith for raising this matter. I concur with him in expressing my concern for the workers who have lost their jobs and for their families, as well as for the people in the local community and the surrounding area. This is very stressful news for those who will lose their jobs. I wish to assure the people concerned that the State agencies will provide every assistance they can and the priority will be to find alternative employment for those involved at the earliest opportunity.

The role of FÁS, the industrial training agency, will be of particular importance in providing assistance to the workers concerned. I understand the agency only heard about the forthcoming closure this morning. It will make arrangements to contact the company and offer its full range of services to the staff who are to lose their jobs.

The Department has not yet received a redundancy notification from the company. However, I understand from media reports that the clothing manufacturer will close its factory, with the loss of 32 jobs, by the end of February 2007. I also understand from this source that the closure is due to rising costs and the company will offer positions in Dublin to a number of staff if they wish to relocate there.

The development agencies, under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, will instigate a strong response to these job losses. The strategy of IDA Ireland for Roscrea and the surrounding area involves the promotion of new foreign direct investment in innovation-driven, high value and high skills sectors. It also involves working with its existing company base to expand their presence in Ireland by the addition of increased strategic functions. The decision by Taro Pharmaceutical Ireland to invest over €8 million in its plant in Roscrea will result in significant additional employment for the town.

IDA Ireland recognises the need to achieve high value employment in Roscrea and is committed to marketing the area as part of its national goal of achieving balanced regional development. The attractiveness of Roscrea for inward and indigenous investment has to be seen within a regional context, with the national spatial strategy providing a framework for the achievement of this goal. The agency is committed to the development of north Tipperary and is actively promoting the county for foreign direct investment, as part of the mid-west region.

Responsibility for the provision of industrial property solutions within the mid-west region lies with Shannon Development, and IDA Ireland works closely with Shannon Development in the promotion and marketing of these tailored property solutions. Shannon Development, in association with the local authorities, is spearheading the drive to bring high Internet access to the region. Roscrea, as well as other towns in the area, have been scheduled as priority towns for phase two of the broadband roll-out programme.

Shannon Development will shortly commence the development of a site in Roscrea with a view to the development of a business park that is appropriate to the needs of the area. It is envisaged that, because of its location, the park will be attractive to office, logistics and industrial enterprises. The main strategy will be to capitalise on Roscrea's excellent central location for foreign direct investment or indigenous industry, or indeed for companies that might wish to relocate to the less congested Shannon region. Shannon Development is currently evaluating the tenders for the business park project that it has received. There were 473 people on the live register in Roscrea in October 2005, and the most recent data available, which is for October 2006, shows that this figure has fallen to 430, a drop of more than 9%.

I am confident that the State development agencies will strengthen their marketing and promotion efforts and will make every effort to secure alternative employment for those affected by the closure of the company. This will be done in partnership with other key players to maximise the flow of potential investors for Roscrea and to convert these into investment and job opportunities. I believe the policies being pursued in Roscrea, together with the Government's ongoing commitment to regional development, will bear fruit in terms of job creation for the area.

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