John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last month, Rondo Food in Arklow announced that there was serious concern about the future of 150 manufacturing jobs in the Arklow area. It committed to engaging in a 30-day consultation process. It is apparent that it entered that consultation process in bad faith. It has dismissed cost-saving measures from representatives from the workforce. It has also rebuffed proposals from Enterprise Ireland. This company has received substantial State grants via Enterprise Ireland and it is quite clear that it had no interest in that process because when it consulted workers in the factory, it was in the process of bringing engineers over from Germany to measure up and move the equipment to its plant in Germany. It knew what the outcome of that consultation process was. There is a dispute because the redundancy package being offered by Gaines is totally unsatisfactory. The workforce has referred it to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. Rondo Food, which has received substantial State funding, is refusing to engage with the WRC. I ask the Minister to intervene, contact this company and ask it to engage with the mechanisms of the State when there are industrial disputes. Arklow is unfortunately an unemployment blackspot and the loss of 150 jobs is devastating. I ask the Minister to commit to establishing an employment task force in the Arklow area.

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