Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is obvious that Vodafone is taking advantage of the recession. It stripped away 140 jobs last May that went to India and Egypt. Now there the announcment of 22 March and this 300 staff. Coming down the track is the threat of the loss of another 200 jobs, concerning which the union has not got assurances. Perhaps the Minister of State can follow this up and meet the management, if he has not already done so. What is going on is very serious. It sets a very bad precedent, or example, for other companies. It strips away staff while at the same time taking advantage of the market and the low corporation taxes in the Republic.

All in all, this is extremely worrying. The company has a moral duty to retain as many staff as it can in the Republic, given its profit centre in this country and the amount of moneys it has achieved here. In regard to Teleperformance, will the Minister of State find out whether the company is receiving any grant aid from the Newry Chamber of Commerce? Perhaps that issue can be raised with his counterpart there.

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