Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I wish to sympathise with the workers and their families. This decision was taken by Vodafone and it raises some questions which have been clearly and well articulated by the Deputies. I will not refer to my script because I honestly believe that serious questions have been raised, including the relationship with Vodafone which is a very profitable company. When the issues were raised by the Deputies, Vodafone supplied the Department with some information which would not necessarily have answered the questions put. With this in mind, I ask the Deputies to allow me some leeway so I can interact with Vodafone's public affairs section, and with Enterprise Ireland because I understand Rigney Dolphin is a client company, and so that we can examine the exact reasons the outsourcing has begun.

According to a document received from Vodafone, it is expected that at the conclusion of the consultation process the credit and collections activity will be outsourced to a specialist supplier in Ireland. Mobile data and customer operations will transfer to an existing group subsidiary based in Egypt and mobile back office will transfer to a subsidiary company based in India. I also understand that Ireland is not the only country affected by the Vodafone move. The group also moved call centre operations from Germany to Egypt.

Rather than give the Deputies a pro forma answer, I ask them to allow me some leeway. Deputy Adams referred to the Communication Workers' Union and if it has been in touch with him, I would be more than happy to field a telephone call from it on this matter. I cannot give any guarantees as it was a corporate decision. All I can say is that we are committed to trying to retain jobs. The State agencies in this region as well as the Louth County Enterprise Board will continue to promote Dundalk as a centre for inward investment and enterprise development.

I acknowledge the Deputies have raised some interesting points. Vodafone employs 1,200 staff in various locations in Ireland which is a significant investment in this country and that must be acknowledged. However, questions have been raised this evening and perhaps this merits further examination. I would be happy to oblige the Deputies in so far as I am able to do so and I will endeavour to help them in this regard.

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