Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I wish to express my solidarity with workers at Royal Mail and British Telecom's Openreach who are striking again for decent pay increases this week and next.

I will raise a scandalous case for the Taoiseach to comment on. Just six hours after receiving a €15 million windfall from the budget through the abolition of VAT on newspapers, the Belgian-owned Mediahuis group announced plans to shut down printing at its Newry plant at the end of January with the loss of 46 jobs. This company made a net profit of €117 million last year, double that of the previous year. Does the Taoiseach intend to stand idly by and watch this shark benefit to the tune of €15 million while throwing its workforce onto the dole?

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