John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. First and foremost, my thoughts are with the hundreds of workers in Aviva and their families who heard this news today.

Subject to the conclusion of negotiations between the company and the workers over the coming six months, the full support of the Government and its relevant agencies will be at the disposal of the workers affected by the announcement today. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, the Department and the relevant agencies have engaged almost daily with the company in an effort to minimise the impact of this process on jobs in Ireland. The Minister has met and been in regular contact with the Irish management of Aviva. He also met the company's European chief executive officer, Mr. Igal Mayer, and the company's global chief executive officer, Mr. Andrew Moss, and has remained in regular contact with them throughout this process.

There is a lengthy period of negotiation of six months ahead which is in contrast to what applied in the case of other recent job losses. I note the company's ambition to achieve many of its targeted reductions through voluntary redundancies. Any job reductions will begin after March 2012 and will take place over a two-year period which at least provides workers some time to plan ahead. I note also that the company has signalled the potential to grow up to 200 new jobs over the same two-year period. IDA Ireland is working and will continue to work with the company to try to deliver on that potential.

These job losses in Aviva reflect another legacy of the collapse of our economy over recent years. Aviva business has dropped by between 20% and 30% as people are buying fewer insurance products in general. It is also a reflection of the global economy given that Aviva worldwide has already reduced staff numbers significantly from 56,000 to 36,000. We are not immune from that situation but it important to note that Ireland has succeeded in building an international financial services industry that is diverse in the activities carried out and which enjoys a world-leading reputation in several sectors. Although the past three years have represented a severe stress test for all financial centres, firms at the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin have shown resilience and flexibility. Employing some 33,000 people directly and many more indirectly, the IFSC remains critical as both an employer and a centre of economic activity. As the House is aware, this Government has set job creation and retention as one of its key priorities in the programme for Government. It is what drives the work of my Department and that of other key Departments as we seek to provide a better future for our young people and our society in general.

The terrible news today from Aviva is part of the economic legacy which this Government inherited and we are committed to addressing it. The Government has shown it is a government of action. We have recapitalised the banks, renegotiated the memorandum of understanding with the EU, the ECB and the IMF and have substantially reduced the interest we will pay on loans from those institutions. When we came into Government we were told these things could not be done but we have shown our determination to turn this country around and are doing so in spite of continuing uncertainty in global financial markets. Notwithstanding the likely growth of the economy this year - for the first time in three years - today's announcement underlines the scale of the challenge ahead for the Government and the economy.

See this speech in context