Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for taking this matter. On 30 June the local representatives in Mullingar received details from the legal adviser of Imperial Tobacco that the factory intended to close and relocate its manufacturing to the Netherlands. The decision meant the loss of 87 jobs, which were good strong jobs in Mullingar whose loss had a generational impact throughout the town. I demand that the Government take strong action to ensure the site vacated by Imperial Tobacco is utilised to the best of its ability and ensure we get a replacement industry on the site. It is important that Enterprise Ireland or the IDA acquire the building. We often see roll-outs of advance factory units but this is a ready-made unit of 10,000 sq. m on a very large site in the area.

It is important we take action immediately. I spoke to representatives from the unions and dealt with a number of employees post the closure of the plant and during the 30-day consultation process and I understand what they are going through. We need to ensure a clear plan is in place. The IDA is very busy with its programme for foreign direct investment and areas in the midlands such as Mullingar get overlooked. I demand that we change this in government. We need to deliver for areas in our regional action plan for jobs and to ensure we get tangible action.

Can the Minister say how negotiations with the management of Imperial Tobacco are going? How advanced are talks with Enterprise Ireland and the IDA and what progress has been made? It is easy to say something is included in a strategy but we need to see tangible progress. I have put down parliamentary questions on the issue and would appreciate an update from the Minister on how things stand at the moment.

We have a huge IDA park in Mullingar and Patterson Pumps is in situ. I have been dealing with a number of firms which are considering locating in the park. Some may not be from the normal foreign direct investment background but are indigenous home-grown firms considering relocating due to expansion issues. The IDA needs to make its property section available to deal with these people as there is a sense in some areas that such action is delayed. There are delays in getting back to people and prices are going up while decisions are not getting over the line on time. We need to have an emphasis on issues within the property management section of the IDA and to ensure that things are being dealt with appropriately and on time.

The Imperial Tobacco group was in operation in Mullingar from 1967 and there was a generational aspect to the factory: fathers and other relatives of employees had also worked there. We need to work hard to get a replacement industry for them. It is incumbent on us to get a good regional spread and we have to learn the lessons of the recent general election which were that Dublin was expanding rapidly but going west it was harder. The further west one goes, one can see that towns have paid a huge price so we need a renewed emphasis on that.

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