Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The technology sector is going through a difficult phase globally and there are some manifestations of that here. As the Deputy said, Meta has made a global pronouncement that will have implications for Ireland but we have to facilitate and provide for proper consultation between the company and its employees. The employees who may be affected should at least be afforded - it is our understanding they will in this case - proper due consultation. Meta employs about 3,000 people directly in this country and 6,000 contractors. It has dramatically increased its workforce in Ireland over the last number of years. That has been the case with many companies across the technology sector generally. It was good news over a ten-year period to witness that dramatic increase in jobs.

For any workers to learn at this time of year that they may lose their job is sad and difficult news. The role of the Government and its agencies is to work with the company and also the employees to ensure every support is available to employees. That applies both to supports and also potential alternative employment opportunities. In the past six to nine months, we were experiencing almost full employment. It is to be hoped there will be opportunities within the tech sector and broader sectors for anybody losing his or her job following the announcements a number of companies are making.

We must keep the balance right as well, in that sectors go through change and many tech companies have, as I said, undergone very rapid periods of expansion, some of which is clearly being pulled back globally. The world economy is changing, as we know. There are headwinds across the globe and these are impacting on the technology sector. We have been here before. At the moment, the consultation and the work IDA Ireland is doing suggest this is something we are going to have to deal with. However, we need to keep perspective and balance in our analysis of this and the description of what is actually happening. We must see it against the backdrop of very rapid expansion over the last number of years. We must ensure we do everything we possibly can to help the workers in this situation.

We have a good system for doing that and we have managed to do it in the past.

We should also seek out new opportunities that will arise in the reorganisation of this sector. New opportunities will always arrive and it is important that we keep an eye open for them. Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, SOLAS and the Department of Social Protection all stand ready to help workers who could get bad news in the next number of days. That is a very difficult situation for them. More broadly, foreign direct investment, FDI, in Ireland is still very strong and the pipeline is still very strong.

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