Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the other speakers. We are talking about viable, high quality jobs in profitable companies. According to its website, Lufthansa Technik had a turnover of €205 million in 2011. Its workers were called to a meeting last Friday when the manager read a report and talked about possible job losses. He said it was not because of the workers and that he was happy with their work. It was not due to the restructuring in which they had been involved. It was due to outside factors. These are very skilled jobs which we cannot afford to lose. The lives of 411 employees and their families are in turmoil. Many of the workers have been at the plant for 20 or 30 years. As there are many couples among them, whole families are affected. It is not just one individual but whole families. The impact is felt by families, the broader community and the local economy. Does the Minister of State accept that there is no clear rationale as to why this is happening? Is there anything he can do to secure the jobs? What, if anything, can he say to reassure the workers in the companies involved? What other State agencies have been involved? Workers want to hear what the Government is going to do about this issue. They do not want to hear that it will just stand by or that there is nothing it can do. I hope it will be able to address the issues involved.

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