Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I am happy to put on record the fact that the Ceann Comhairle is spoken of in glowing terms concerning the Shamrock Rovers stadium.

A month ago I spoke in the House about job losses in Jacob's where 230 permanent jobs and 130 seasonal jobs will be phased out over the next year. I took the view then that it was a big blow for Tallaght. Over recent days we heard another bad announcement, this time from Microprint, another good company in Tallaght, which is ceasing production at that facility. Microprint is the computer manual and magazine printing company which, among other publications, produces the RTE Guide. I thought everybody read the RTE Guide but it is a blow and I do not want to be flippant about it.

Tallaght is the third largest centre of population in the country and, as I have said on many occasions, it cannot afford to lose jobs. We must focus on creating jobs there. As I said with regard to Jacob's a month ago, our first priority is to express our solidarity with the workers in Microprint. Some 130 families will be affected by the job losses there. We hope the company will be generous and not only provide a high level of redundancy payments but also take account of its employees' future needs. I appeal to the company to do precisely that.

I acknowledge the interest of the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Billy Kelleher, who addressed this issue for me a month ago. He is present in the House again now. He certainly has been supportive concerning the issues I have raised. Apart from the need for Jacob's and Microprint to look after their workers, these job losses, which total almost 500, highlight the fact for the Government and State agencies that Tallaght has the same job creation needs as everywhere else. Deputies from Limerick, Kerry, Cork and elsewhere will make the same point about their communities. I believe, however, that I can make a very strong case for Tallaght which is a huge population centre with at least 25,000 school students. If we start haemorrhaging jobs it will put us under even more pressure.

The Tallaght that I moved to almost 40 years ago is a different place today, thank God. Since the Square opened on 23 October 1990, there has been major job creation with significant progress in the town. Tallaght is now a city in all but name. It is a great place. One can drive there on great roads or go on the Luas. One can visit the hospital, the civic centre, the theatre, the Square and the National Basketball Arena, where I was this morning. It is a vibrant and positive place but we are concerned about job losses and account must be taken of these blows to Tallaght.

I want to stress that Tallaght has major needs. While not wishing to compete with anyone else around the country, I expect the Minister to prioritise the job creation requirements of Tallaght which needs special attention. I hope that not only will we see job creation initiatives for Tallaght in the coming months but also help for companies that are in difficulty. I appeal to the Minister of State not only to deliver his reply but also to stress to his senior Minister tomorrow the concerns I have raised in this regard. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his courtesy in allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

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