Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to discuss the imminent risk of job losses at Rehab Enterprises in Navan, County Meath. There is an experienced team of machinists who have been making personal protective equipment, PPE, for more than 20 years and supporting front-line workers, never more so than during the pandemic, when they all worked overtime to try to keep up with demand. Now, we hear that 11 of the 14 employees are in danger of losing their jobs. Deputy O'Rourke and I met the staff in Navan about ten days ago. These people go to work every day with a smile on their faces and love doing their work. To be told that their jobs may go will have an awful effect on them. Some of them have been working there for more than 30 years and others more than 20 years, with little hope of finding employment locally if these jobs go. I spoke with the HR director of Rehab Enterprises, who told me that in order to protect the other 110 jobs across the State, the plant in Navan would be hard to save. This will put these 11 people on the live register, where they will probably remain, as well as the effect it will have on them and their mental health.

Staff received a letter from Rehab Enterprises on 23 May, stating that they were advised that their roles had been placed at risk and that this meant their jobs were placed at risk of potential redundancy. It was also stated that it will not happen at that time and that Rehab Enterprises was going to see if there were any other options to prevent this from happening. There is a small window of opportunity to save these jobs and see the smile coming back on the faces of these workers. That is why I ask the Minister of State to engage with Rehab Enterprises to see if anything can be done to protect these jobs. In cases like this, it should not always be about the money but about doing what is right for people with disabilities.

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