John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I listened very actively to the Deputies' concerns. Our primary concern is for the workers who will eventually face redundancy. In that context, the timeframe announced by Aviva for its restructuring programme at least provides some assistance to workers. The State development companies will work actively in every way possible to minimise job losses. We must provide assistance to workers, and the State development agencies will support them in planning ahead, which is critical. It must and will be done.

When it becomes clear which workers face redundancy, each will be offered the full support of the agencies to ensure they are properly informed about other opportunities that present during the coming six months, such as options in employment, business education and training. The Government is dealing decisively and immediately with this. As Deputy Humphreys noted, this is about straight talking.

In addition, IDA Ireland will continue its engagement with Aviva to try to secure investment in new and growing business areas. This is an ongoing process.

It is important to note here that Ireland continues to be competitive in attracting investment from major global companies. Recent examples which testify to our attractiveness as a location for investment in the area of financial services include the creation of 100 jobs by Fidelity in Galway and Dublin, 100 jobs by BNY Mellon in Dublin, 50 jobs by Butterfield Fulcrum in Dublin, 60 jobs by Allianz in Dublin, 150 jobs by Arvato Finance in Dublin and 75 jobs by D&B in Dublin. In the area of shared services and customer support, recent announcements include the creation of 150 jobs by Quest in Cork, 350 jobs by PayPal in Dublin, several hundred jobs by Zenimax in Galway, 75 jobs by Avaya in Galway, 50 jobs by NEI in Galway, 100 jobs by NPD in Athlone, 100 jobs by Alere in Galway, 50 jobs by Citrix in Dublin and 200 jobs by EA & Bioware in Galway. I accept that what I have said about the creation of other jobs does not compensate anyone with regard to what happened earlier today.

I will bring to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Bruton, the point relating to the appointment of a single point of contact person to co-ordinate activities. As Deputy O'Dea clearly stated, our priority must be to ensure that the relevant agencies, including IDA Ireland, work with Aviva to ensure that the level of job losses will be minimised. The three Deputies may rest assured that the Department will continue its work in respect of this matter. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, has been actively involved in dealing with it since concerns first emerged several weeks ago. He has had discussions with all the senior personnel from Aviva in the context of ensuring the impact of today's dreadful announcement will be minimised.

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