Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

UL has produced thousands of aviation graduates. The same can be said for Limerick Institute of Technology, now part of the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest. It would be remiss of me to not mention that this morning as I will shortly head out to meet the chief executives of Lufthansa Technik and of Atlantic Aviation Group. Yesterday we had a double-edged sword announcement in the region. For many years, 485 people have been employed by Lufthansa Technik. They have been hugely hampered and devastated by the Covid pandemic. We got the good news yesterday that 300 jobs will be saved. Those jobs have been secured but 185 are going to be lost. These people have been trained in the region. These are highly-skilled jobs. These people may not fall immediately within the remit of the Minister but he and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment must do everything to give these people a pathway to new employment. There is great uncertainty hanging over their heads. As we come out of Covid and most sectors recover, they cannot see a recovery. There were 300 jobs saved and 185 are to be lost. I implore the Minister to step into the breach for the people with that skill set in the region and come up with alternative employment in the quickest time.

See this speech in context