Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

Amann Industries Corporation announced a two-stage plan to close its production plant in Tralee at a general meeting of all employees last Friday. The plant, which has been in production since 1998, manufactures high-quality technical sewing threads with a range of industrial applications. A restructuring programme aimed at reducing manufacturing costs was already announced earlier this year with the loss of 120 jobs, and Friday's announcement was of the loss of the remaining 210 jobs. The company issued a press release which stated: "The need to remain competitive in a very difficult, cost sensitive market, combined with high labour, energy and other manufacturing costs have led to this regrettable decision."

I agree with Deputy McEllistrim that not enough has been done to bring industry to Tralee. Nothing of any note has been done either by the IDA or by the Government. Over the past ten years Tralee, the county capital, has lost many of its manufacturing industries, including Denny, Ridgeview, Kerry Fashions, Klopman, Maycon Mouldings, Glen Dimplex, Kleinhuis, Wilson socks and now Amann. Its industrial base has been decimated.

Since 1998 no new IDA-supported company has been established in Tralee or Kerry, but 30 new IDA-assisted international companies were established in Cork between 2002 and 2007. The IDA arranged 145 site visits in Cork for potential foreign direct investment between 2002 and 2007, whereas over the same period only 13 visits were organised for Kerry and, apparently, these were not of a serious nature.

One of the most exciting developments in the county was the opening of Kerry Technology Park in 2001. This resulted from the shared vision of Shannon Development — not the IDA — and the Institute of Technology in Tralee. Kerry Technology Park is now home to 17 companies which employ more than 300 people in well paid jobs. In 2007 these companies generated annual sales of more than €60 million. In 2007 the Government, in its wisdom, stripped Shannon Development, the prime driver of job creation in Tralee, of its industrial brief and transferred it to Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has no office in Tralee and no permanent presence there.

The live register figure for Tralee in March was 6,181, a 69.4% increase on the March 2008 figure. Tralee is a national black spot when it comes to job losses and employment creation. It has been ignored by both the IDA and the Government over the past ten years; it is simply not on the map.

The loss of 230 jobs at Amann is as big a blow to Tralee as the loss of more than 1,900 jobs at Dell in Limerick. The Government task force established in the aftermath of these job losses at Dell should be extended to include Tralee. I also ask that FÁS now put in place retraining programmes for those unfortunate workers who will now not be able to pay their mortgages, in some cases, and will find it difficult to get alternative employment. These measures should be put in place now.

I congratulate the Minister of State on his recent appointment. He was responsible for setting up a chamber of commerce in Listowel and I thank him for that.

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