Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil don Leas-Cheann Comhairle, don Cheann Comhairle do gach duine atá ag obair i dTithe an Oireachtais. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Ceann Comhairle and all the staff, the bar staff and everyone else and all the people who put up with us here at all hours of the night in the restaurant and all over the place on behalf of the Rural Independent Group.

I raise the Amneal plant in Cashel. It is a good plant. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, came to its opening in a fanfare with an announcement of 300 jobs. It had grown to 91 jobs and there was great positivity and hope in the town, but yesterday a bomb struck when the company announced it would reduces its workforce to a skeleton staff of 30, are were letting 60 people go. There has been great disappointment and angst in Cashel, Tipperary and surrounding areas. Will the Tánaiste tell us if the agencies will get involved and see if there is anyway we can help the management, who are a good management, in Amneal to get the company back on its feet again? There are talks that more jobs are in the pipeline and more medicines and so on. We need this plant badly and we need supports to ensure that management grow the plant to where we were promised some years ago.

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