Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

I have raised this issue to highlight the worsening situation in Tralee and the surrounding area with the loss of 44 jobs at the Denny plant. Just over a week ago the workers were told their jobs would be gone from 31 January 2008. It is not just those 44 jobs that will be lost. I am reliably informed that a further eight jobs in the office will follow. In addition, hauliers and part-time workers will lose their jobs. These losses need to be viewed with further Denny losses of 20 jobs in May and 25 jobs in June, resulting in the loss of almost 100 jobs in one small plant in Tralee. Denny is one of the longest-standing businesses in the town and is a very significant loss, not just to the workers but also to the wider community.

These losses come on top of job losses at other companies based in the town, including Glen Dimplex, Tralee Beef and Lamb, and Klopman in recent years. This has added to an already serious unemployment problem. There are now 1,300 people out of work in Tralee which has an unemployment rate of 14.2% — the second highest in the State for a town of its size. Apart from those who have no jobs, there is the growing problem of under-employment, casual employment and part-time employment, often at very low wages. There are almost a further 2,000 people in that position bringing the total signing on the live register to 3,286. That means that almost 40% of the total workforce in Tralee are either fully or partially unemployed. Where, it has to be asked, are the benefits of the Celtic tiger to the south west? They are certainly nowhere to be seen in the town of Tralee.

The unemployment rate in Tralee has hardly changed in the past 11 years. In 1996, unemployment in Tralee town was 15.3%. It is now14.2%, an improvement of a mere 1.1%. Tralee has not seen any benefit from the overall economic gains of recent years. Without doubt one of the key reasons has been the failure to promote the town properly as the centre for investment. On a number of occasions I have asked successive Ministers, including the present Minister for Health and Children when she was Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, to state how many companies have been targeted by IDA Ireland for Tralee. I was told it was a manufacturing and technology town. However, on each occasion the Ministers avoided the question. It is my understanding that IDA Ireland has been instructed not to go into the south west. When I met representatives of IDA Ireland, they told me they were told to promote the area within a 50-mile radius of Dublin where the infrastructure is suitable.

While Tralee has an educated workforce along with Kerry Technology Park and the Institute of Technology, it has not been exploited for the benefit of the people of the south west. Without a proactive approach by the Government towards addressing that disadvantage for Tralee and north Kerry, this will continue to be the case. North Kerry in general has suffered. Listowel has lost three businesses in recent years and it is now proposed to close the ESB facility in Tarbert. These losses, along with what is happening in Tralee, highlight the lack of commitment of successive Ministers to proactively create jobs in Kerry in general and Tralee in particular. I ask the Minister of State to consider the situation. Given that 14.2% of the workforce in the town is unemployed, it should be top of the Government's agenda to reverse that unemployment rate.

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