Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, has been in contact with the Minister, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor. The Department of Social Protection stands ready to support the employees and their families at this very difficult time. In the Minister's ongoing engagement with the other State agencies, I ask that the Minister and her Department send a very clear message that Kildare is open for business and that it has the talented workforce and infrastructure to be a very attractive proposition for industry and jobs.

It is a key week for business in Kildare given that both North Kildare Chamber of Commerce and South Kildare Chamber of Commerce will hold EGMs during which their members will consider a proposal to merge. I implore both chambers to grasp the opportunity and to see what happened today as a key example of why Kildare would be much better served by one united, countywide chamber of commerce that could tap into all the resources of Kildare County Council, the education and training boards, ETBs, and all the key Departments and have one united voice. I am confident the members of both chambers will do so and I look forward to this positive outcome from this week, which has been a very dark one for Kildare.

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