John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to thank Deputies Wall, Stagg, Dowds, Daly and Crowe for raising this important issue. The Minister is on an important trade mission to India and regrets he is unable to be here.

I share the concerns of the Deputies in regard to the jobs being lost at Lufthansa Technik Airmotive and Pratt & Whitney Aviation International, PWAI, at Rathcoole in Dublin. My colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, has been in close touch with both these cases and met with senior management from Lufthansa last Friday. Both companies have had to undertake a global review of their operations. In Pratt & Whitney's case, a decision was taken by the parent company to transfer dwindling customer requirements to a site in the US. This has resulted in the phasing out of older technologies and products. However, the company still has excess capacity across its engineering, maintenance and repair operations.

Four other such sites have been already closed by the company and this is the key determinant in its decision to cease production at the Rathcoole plant and to introduce a redundancy programme there, on a phased basis, over the next 18 months. Some 107 jobs will be impacted by the programme. PWAI has made it clear that it is fully aware of the productive nature of the Irish site and of its skilled workforce, but has said that the decision was a purely commercial one, based on wider market conditions. As Deputies will appreciate, the ultimate decision in these cases is made by the parent company, on strictly commercial grounds and on what is seen by the company as being in the best interests of the group as a whole.

IDA Ireland has met with senior management in the US to discuss the closure of the site and any options for its retention. In addition, the IDA met with management and workers' representatives at the company recently and it was agreed that the agency will liaise with the general manager at the site, with a view to helping the company create a profile of the plant, the workforce and their skills for marketing purposes by the IDA's global team. The IDA will remain in ongoing contact with PWAI during the next 12 to 18 months. In addition, the Minister has arranged that Enterprise Ireland will engage with the company to explore whatever other options might be possible, taking into account that agency's remit and experience in supporting the Irish-owned engineering sector.

In the case of Lufthansa, the decision to close the Rathcoole plant with the loss of 408 jobs was taken following an extensive review of operations, in the context of declining revenues and shrinking international market opportunities. The company has pointed out that the enhanced quality and efficiencies of the new generations of aircraft engines, with reduced need for overhaul, has impacted on their business, with fewer engines becoming available. Complex changes in the dynamics of aircraft maintenance worldwide have knock-on impacts in facilities such as those in Ireland.

The Minister is conscious of the highly-skilled workforces at both companies and has asked the IDA to explore the possibility of securing a takeover or buy-out for either company. I therefore want to assure the House that all that can be done by the State's agencies in an effort to secure a positive result for the employees is being done and will continue to be done. It is of course extremely regrettable that 107 jobs are to be lost at PWAI and 408 at Lufthansa. Both the Minister and I appreciate that these closures will have a devastating impact on employees and their families.

In the wider context, as a Government we have put in place strategies for job creation that are now starting to bear fruit. Unemployment levels have started to reduce and we have had a number of good job wins for the country in recent months. Our key driver to turn around the economy and to concentrate on job creation has been the Action Plan for Jobs and through that strategy the Government has been working to ensure we transform the Irish economy. We are in a situation where the private sector is now creating 3,000 jobs every month, thereby helping to turn around our unemployment levels. While this will be of little immediate consolation to the Lufthansa and PWAI employees and their families, it is a clear sign that Ireland is starting to see better days ahead in the jobs market.

With the right skills programmes in place and with the enterprise agencies working closely with company management, we will do all we can to try to secure a positive outcome for the PWAI and Lufthansa plants. Deputies may rest assured that the Minister will deal decisively with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and all the State agencies to try to find a solution. The IDA and Enterprise Ireland will remain in close contact with the companies and are arranging to meet with relevant company management regarding the proposed redundancies. They will arrange for a skills base of the workers involved to be put together quickly in a bid to advertise both the plants and the availability of skills to possible third parties.

This is a very competitive industry and because aircraft can be easily flown to competing facilities all over the world, it is truly global, with consequent extreme competitive pressures. Nevertheless, we have a vibrant aircraft maintenance sector which employs more than 4,000 staff, with two very successful companies at Dublin Airport and several operations at Shannon Airport, including other Lufthansa operations, and facilities elsewhere also. In total, we have 14 companies in the sector. These are skilled, high quality jobs and the two State agencies are very active in supporting their client companies in the sector. Ireland has a thriving wider aerospace sector, with several significant aircraft leasing companies supporting more than 3,000 jobs, innovative IT companies developing aviation software and engineering companies supplying components to major aircraft manufacturers.

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