Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Deputy McGrath that hope is most certainly not lost in regard to this site and the people who have worked in this plant for so many years. We must put the redundancies that are happening in context. It is nothing to do with the efficiency of the plant itself. It is certainly nothing to do with the 31 workers who have put their blood, sweat and tears into it. Unfortunately, it is due to the decision of the parent company.

Deputy McGrath might acknowledge that this is happening at a time when the economy is growing and we, effectively, have no unemployment. We are able to invest time, as the Deputy talked about, not just into the town of Carrick-on-Suir but this specific site.

The Deputy asked for a couple of undertakings. Of course we will engage with the local councillors both in Carrick-on-Suir and over the border in Waterford. I have already had a meeting with Senator Ahearn about the issue.

Deputy McGrath mentioned Merck, Sharp & Dohme. It is convenient that I will be meeting the company next week in the Department not just about this plant but about wider issues in the south east and mid-west, where it has a lot of operations. I give the Deputy an undertaking that I will raise this specific area and the need for reinvigoration in this area with the company when I meet it next week.

I hope I can get across that I want to work with the Deputy on this issue. I share his passion to make sure that once the statutory issues have been addressed that we get these extremely skilled people back into the workforce because we badly need them, in particular in the dairy sector. This is not like the dark old days when the shutting down of a plant like this could destroy an entire town. There are opportunities for jobs, training and, more important, for these skills to be put back into the economy extremely quickly.

I look forward to working with Deputy McGrath in the coming weeks, into June and beyond, to make sure that we breathe entrepreneurial life into the town and surrounding areas.

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