Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are the best little country in the world in which to do business. Does the Minister condone the management of the decision to close the Borrisoleigh plant? Does he intend to or has he already contacted C&C to express his condemnation of the company, the way it has dealt with its affairs and the way it has treated the workforce with such disrespect in Borrisoleigh? Will he publicly sanction the company for the manner in which it has conducted its affairs in that respect? I have raised this issue here on a number of occasions because, from the time C&C took over M&J Gleeson, it had one purpose and one purpose only, namely, to run it down, take its brands and close the factory. The Minister, all his officials and everybody in the Department were aware that there were problems with this company.

4 o’clock

There were problems in that it would not communicate. It would not recognise the workers in terms of having a group forum. Eventually, it reluctantly accepted having a union represent them. Therefore, the motivation of the company was always questionable in terms of what it would do with Gleeson's of Borrisoleigh.

After they announced the takeover, the then Competition Authority looked at this. I want to ask the Minister what is the role of a competition authority. Why did the Competition Authority not put conditions on a takeover? Effectively, the Competition Authority rubber-stamped this takeover with no protection whatsoever for the workforce. The Competition Authority could not have allowed this to go ahead unless it had a business plan and projections from the company. Did that forward plan that was put before the Competition Authority include the possible closure of this plant? The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission must be questioned on that decision.

Finally, I recognise that the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, is making determined efforts to create jobs but we also need to remember that we must sustain the jobs we have. We have lost 140 jobs in Borrisoleigh and I am sure that the Minister and the officials in IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are out there trying to encourage new jobs to come in. In this instance, we saw the warning signs and we did not do anything about it. Today, senior management in C&C told me that the jobs will be on offer to the workers from Borrisoleigh who are being displaced. They will be offered those jobs as a priority and under the same terms and conditions as C&C operated. They also told me - I ask the Minister how much of this he is aware of - that a party is interested in purchasing the plant as a going concern. For how long did the discussions take place? Was the Department involved and did the Minister give them enough support and encouragement to make that final decision?

See this speech in context