Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this most important issue. Like Deputy Nash and Deputy Kirk, I am shocked and appalled by Vodafone Ireland's announcement last Thursday, 22 March, to move a further 300 Irish customer service jobs from Dublin and Dundalk to another jurisdiction. This comes on the back of 140 jobs lost last May when Vodafone decided to move call centres from Ireland to Egypt and India. In total up to 440 jobs will be lost at Vodafone Ireland.

We know from last week's announcement that 300 jobs in customer care in both Dublin and Dundalk are being moved to Northern Ireland without proper consultation and which will result in significant job losses. This, in turn, will have an adverse effect on the quality of life of workers' families and the local economies in Dublin and Dundalk. It is quite obvious to senior Vodafone management that workers who are currently based in Dublin and Dundalk will not be a position to relocate to Newry. According to Mr. Terry Delany, the deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, who is making strenuous efforts to help save these jobs, this decision made by Vodafone has been callous and he has accused Vodafone of "exporting jobs in the blind pursuit of an increased bottom line".

This is an appalling situation and it flies against the spirit of the Government's jobs strategy which is to create and retain jobs in the Republic. This is clearly a strategy of corporate greed being adopted by Vodafone Ireland in moving these jobs from the Republic when one considers the amount of profit Vodafone is making here. My research indicates that Vodafone is Ireland's leading communications provider with 2.45 million customers across mobile, fixed line and DSL. At 30 September 2011, Vodafone Ireland's mobile telecoms base was 2.22 million. The company continues to benefit from a profitable market in Ireland and has repatriated €2.2 billion in profits on its Irish operations to its parent group over the past decade. Vodafone Ireland also continues to enjoy one of the lowest corporation tax rates on company profits available anywhere in the world so I ask why it is taking this course of action.

I ask both the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to intervene urgently and to meet senior management with a view to saving the 300 jobs currently under threat.

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