Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle, sa chéad dul síos, for allowing Deputy Healy and I to raise this matter on the Adjournment. The risk of job losses in Suir Pharma is a body blow for the workers concerned. The workers in Clonmel have been aware that things are not going well for a number of weeks. I was contacted by them approximately three weeks ago but I could get no engagement from the company. There are 134 jobs at stake and the High Court appointed a liquidator this week. That is a big blow.

This company has been in Clonmel for more than 40 years. It started off in Old Bridge. I salute the entrepreneurs who set it up, the visionaries and the different companies - of which there were many - that owned it over the years. Suir Pharma has had several owners since it came into existence. Last year it was sold to a Slovakian group, Saneca Pharmaceuticals, by Munich restructuring company Mutares for an undisclosed amount. That is the where I believe the kernel of the problem lies. That company is not engaged in pharmaceuticals; it is involved in speculation, as it were, because it is an investment company.

We do not know where or what. The competition authority is toothless and negligent here and I will be bringing forward a Private Members' Bill on that. Companies like this, with a fantastic workforce for over 40 years, cannot treat their workers like this. It is shameful and downright wrong. I salute the pharmaceutical and other industries in Clonmel, which we are fortunate to have. They have provided good employment over the years and good business for Clonmel and Tipperary and County Waterford, but an attack on and plundering of a viable and valuable company by vulture companies and funds is happening. The workers are being treated appallingly and we need stronger legislation to ensure that they cannot just be told on a Monday night having had their wages paid 24 hours early that the company is running for cover, going to the High Court, seeking a winding up and turfing the workers out on the road. The valuable service they have given, their families and their communities deserve better than that. It must not be allowed. I appeal to the Minister to get her departmental agencies, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, involved to deal with the company. There are still 30 jobs on the site at Clonmel Chemicals which has a planning application in for a new warehouse. There is a viable industry here. We must bring in legislation to stop this ransacking. It has happened in other areas in Tipperary and other parts of the country. Companies are not interested and are treating people and communities appallingly.

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