Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to raise this important matter in the House tonight. I have raised the long-term future of Dell in Limerick on a number of occasions since the closure of company's manufacturing plant there was announced. Dell is a great employer in Limerick. It continues to employ more than 1,000 people in high-end manufacturing there. The 1,900 jobs that will soon have been lost at the Dell manufacturing plant in Limerick are, in effect, being moved to the Dell plant in Lodz. It appears that the ownership of the plant in Poland is to transfer to Foxconn, a large global company that is taking over the manufacture of computers for Dell. My understanding is that Dell will become a customer of Foxconn's manufacturing services in Poland. I would like the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to confirm that transfer of the ownership of the Polish plant to Foxconn will not have negative or adverse implications on the sustainability of the Dell plant in Limerick. There is a great relationship between the plants in Limerick and Lodz.

We need to be assured that Dell has a viable future in Limerick and that the 1,000 remaining jobs will be preserved. It is extremely important for the Tánaiste to confirm that funding under the European globalisation fund will be made available to the 2,500 workers - I refer to Dell workers and their counterparts in related companies like Banta and Flextronics, who have been made redundant as a result of the closure of the Dell manufacturing plant in Limerick. Further, I would like the Tánaiste to confirm that the mid-west region, which includes Limerick, will become IDA Ireland's priority region as it tries to attract foreign direct investment. IDA Ireland has not brought any foreign direct investment into Limerick since Dell announced the closure of the manufacturing plant in early January of this year. In that time, Cork has get 850 IDA Ireland-backed jobs and Galway has got 164 such jobs. Although Limerick has had a higher rate of loss of foreign direct investment jobs than anywhere else in the country, not a single job has been delivered to Limerick by IDA Ireland this year. In the run-up to the Dell announcement, I called for a jobs task force to be established. IDA Ireland took no part in the task force even though it was established as a direct result of the loss of IDA Ireland jobs.

It is critical for the Tánaiste to confirm that she has made direct contact with Dell to ascertain whether the Limerick plant has a sustainable future. Can she say whether the 1,000 remaining jobs will be retained? Will the Government support Dell so that it can grow in Limerick, as Apple did in Cork, by means of the creation and development of high-end value jobs? Can the Tánaiste confirm when the €23 million of vital funding under the European globalisation fund will come on stream, in a practical way, in Limerick and the mid-west? People are entitled to benefit from the funding, €15 million of which will come from the EU and €8 million of which will come from the Government. They have been waiting for it for many months. It will enable people who have lost manufacturing jobs in Dell and related companies, through no fault of their own, to get on their lives by finding jobs, becoming self-employed or getting properly retrained. Further, it is extremely important for the Tánaiste to clarify whether she will discuss with the European Commission the grant of €54.5 million that was given by the Polish Government to Dell to encourage it to establish its Lodz plant. The ownership of the plant in question has been transferred, in effect, from Dell to the Foxconn enterprise. Was the European Commission aware at the time of the possibility of Dell not remaining in Poland? If that had been known, some of the manufacturing plant in Limerick might still be functioning and vitally needed jobs might have been retained in the region. I want my questions to be answered so that we can ensure that the 1,000 remaining jobs at the Dell facility in Limerick have a sustainable future.

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