Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to raise this important matter. I refer to the threatened loss of 30 jobs at the Simpson Strongtie manufacturing plant in Killorglin, County Kerry. I understand the company informed IDA Ireland recently that it had decided to exit the European safety bolt market. It subsequently announced its plans to sell its European business interests which include the facility in Killorglin. If a new buyer is not lined up by the end of the year, the 30 jobs at that facility will be lost. The plant was first established by Liebig in 1970, before being bought by its current owners in 2008. As a result of the global downturn in the construction industry, workers at the facility have been on a three-day week for much of last three years. Unfortunately, it seems that the end will come at the end of this year if something is not done. I am calling for action to be taken to make sure every effort is made to try to find a new buyer for the plant, preferably a buyer that would maintain the 30 jobs in question.

This situation is unfolding in the middle of the country's substantial jobs crisis. At the end of August there were almost 16,000 people on the live register in County Kerry. In a small town like Killorglin, the loss of 30 jobs would have a significant impact on the individuals in question, their families, the local community and the local economy. Everybody would feel the loss. Given that those who have seasonal jobs in the tourism sector were in employment in August, it is clear that the number unemployed in the county will increase in the coming months. I remind the House that the live register figures do not take account of the many young people who have been forced to leave the shores of County Kerry in search of work in last few years. There is a massive problem in the county. Companies such as Aetna which operated a call centre in Castleisland and Amman Industries which was based in Tralee have closed their local facilities in recent years. There has been a virtual collapse in the construction industry in County Kerry. I have been reliably informed by Kerry Country Council that the number of new applications for planning permission will be well under 1,000 this year. This is remarkable considering that the equivalent number was as high as 5,000 or 6,000 six or seven years ago. That is a fair economic indicator.

I ask the Minister to liaise with his colleague in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to ensure everything possible is done to save these jobs. If they are lost, it will be a massive blow to the mid-Kerry area.

See this speech in context