Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the matter of 40 job losses in Ballina, County Mayo. The north Mayo area is in crisis and the fault lies with a Government that has failed to address the unemployment problem. How can Ballina survive when the unemployment rate is twice the national average? Ballina has lost 1,000 manufacturing jobs, net, in north Mayo with the closure of Asahi, Heneghans, Oasis and other factories in the past nine years as well as the loss of spin off industries. The area has been dealt a mortal blow and IDA Ireland seems incapable of delivering what is needed. It is unacceptable that IDA Ireland has no location for industry in Ballina.

The town lost 1,340 jobs and gained 400 replacement jobs, giving a net loss of 1,000 jobs. The number of people on the live register in Ballina exceeds the number for the entire county of Roscommon. The Ballina Chamber of Commerce is doing its best but does not have facilities to address the problem.

I urge the Minister of State to intervene. IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland must work harder for the area. IDA Ireland states it has great difficulty securing jobs for the area because manufacturing companies prefer to locate in Dublin and larger centres with the scale, infrastructure and services capable of sustaining the investment.

The area needs balanced regional development and, specifically, roads, rail, broadband and technology parks. The area is not competitive as it does not have the infrastructure needed. I urge the Minister of State to consult his colleagues in Government on this serious situation. Replies from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, and IDA Ireland suggest the lack of balanced regional development is the core of our problem. I ask the Minister to galvanise IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland into action.

Beverley Flynn (Mayo, Independent)
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Thursday, 2 March was a black day for Ballina and the people of Mayo. Some 40 full-time jobs were lost at the Oasis factory. This company has been a manufacturer of bottle and pressure water coolers in the town since 1992. It has decided to relocate to Poland as the costs of manufacturing jobs in Ballina are not competitive, even though it will retain its European headquarters in the town. Over the past nine years 1,340 jobs have been lost and IDA Ireland has created only 400 jobs in that time. The net loss is almost 1,000 jobs.

Exactly one year ago I sought a debate on the underspend in the BMW region. The Minster of State responded on behalf of the Government. At that time there was a €2 billion underspend in the region and today that figure is €3.7 billion, despite the commitment given by the Minister of State that the Government would do everything it could to redress the imbalance by the time the national development plan concluded. Although I recognise funds can be allocated until 2008, the plan finishes at the end of 2006 and this is a poor reflection of the Government's investment in the BMW region and the town of Castlebar. I met representatives of IDA Ireland last year and was told the main reason jobs could not be located in Mayo was the inadequate infrastructure, particularly the N5.

Work on the section of the N5 between Castlebar and Westport had been shelved as has work on phase two of the N26. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, stated the latter would be done on a continuous basis, explaining that he liked to finish a job when he started one. The NRA has no intention of reversing the current situation although progress is being made on the Charlestown bypass.

Some 1,000 jobs have been lost in Bolex, Castlebar, some 120 in the Cedar Group, 50 in APC, 220 in Heneghans of Ballina, 20 in Hats of Ireland and now these jobs in Oasis, which once employed 400 people. I ask the Minister of State to honour the commitment given last year and respond to this crisis.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I was concerned to hear that Oasis in Ballina has announced that it will reduce its workforce to approximately 12 people over the next two months. The rationalisation of its operation in Ballina has been sought by its parent company and will end all manufacturing activities at the plant. The remaining staff will be engaged mainly in customer support and marketing activities.

The company has been experiencing increased competition in its market, particularly from Chinese manufacturers, and employment has steadily declined in recent years. Oasis established a manufacturing site in Poland in 2001 and I understand the remaining production in Ballina will now transfer to Poland. The company's difficulties are not unique to Ireland as I understand it is experiencing similar difficulties in the US market where major rationalisation is expected at its plant in Ohio.

I am very conscious of the effect these job losses will have on the workers involved and their families as well as the community in the surrounding area. This is very distressing news for those who will lose their jobs as a result of the announcement. I assure the people concerned that the State agencies will provide every support they can.

The priority will be to find alternative employment for those involved at the earliest possible opportunity. The role of FÁS, the State training agency, will be particularly important in assisting those who are about to lose their jobs. FÁS has already made contact with the company and the full range of its services will be made available to employees concerned if they wish to avail of them.

The industrial development agencies will make every effort to secure alternative investment and employment for Ballina and north Mayo. A central goal for the agencies is the achievement of balanced regional development. The national spatial strategy provides a framework for achievement of this goal through the prioritisation of development and investment in the gateway and hub locations. IDA Ireland seeks to attract foreign direct investment into the linked hub of Ballina and Castlebar, as well as a small number of additional locations throughout County Mayo.

The agency is promoting Ballina for new foreign investment as well as working with the existing base of overseas companies in Ballina to encourage them to expand. Since January 2003 there have been five first time site visits to Ballina. IDA Ireland's sectoral emphasis is on attracting new knowledge intensive projects in the medical technologies, life sciences, information communications and technology and international services sectors.

The agency is investing significantly in the provision of planned and focussed property solutions. Specifically, IDA Ireland is developing world class business and technology parks at a number of towns. The goal is to ensure that these locations have the appropriate property solutions, tailored to specific key sectoral targets, to attract inward investments. IDA Ireland has been in discussions with Mayo County Council regarding the acquisition of a site in local authority ownership in Ballina.

Enterprise Ireland activity is focused on the creation of new jobs through supporting entrepreneurs setting up new high potential start-up companies, the retention and creation of new jobs in existing companies and in enhancing the innovation capability of Irish companies at a national and regional level. Enterprise Ireland provides preferential funding for companies with detailed export plans who are expanding or establishing a business in County Mayo. Enterprise Ireland has approved funding support of almost €1 million to client companies in the Ballina-Killala area in the period 2003 to 2005.

A new Enterprise Ireland-supported high potential start-up company, Heatsolve Limited, commenced operations in Ballina last year. Enterprise Ireland has committed funding of more than €700,000 to IRD North Mayo-West Sligo Limited, for the development of enterprise space in Ballina. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment officially opened this centre during his visit to Ballina in January 2006.

According to provisional figures from the Forfás employment survey 2005, the total number of people employed in Enterprise Ireland client companies in County Mayo in 2005 was 3,054, an increase of 468 people on the number of people employed ten years earlier. In addition, in the past 12 months, a number of new businesses have been set up in the Castlebar area, all in the retail sector, creating approximately 150 to 200 jobs.

I am confident that the State development agencies will strengthen their marketing and promotion efforts in Ballina and north Mayo and will make every effort to secure alternative employment for the area. This will be done in partnership with other key players to maximise the flow of potential investors for the area and to convert these into investment and job opportunities for both Ballina and County Mayo in general.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter for discussion. Last week's announcement that 81 jobs are to go at the PCTel factory in Finglas is a major blow for the area. The parent company, based in Chicago, has stated that PCTel's financial losses are now at an unacceptable level and that plans are under way to transfer the technology operation to eastern Europe. The loss of these 81 well paid and high level manufacturing jobs should not be allowed to happen without significant discussion of the implications for these workers and without discussion of what these losses represent in broader economic terms.

Redundancy negotiations will begin tomorrow morning. To comprehend fully the workers' disappointment and disillusionment with this closure, it is important to point out a number of factors. PCTel is involved in the design, manufacturing and marketing of specialised antennae for mobile operators. It is recognised as a technology innovator within the emerging mobile markets such as TETRA and 3G. It has a long established history within the Finglas area and has operated there and employed people from the area since 1956.

Long before the boom began, Sigma was among the first high-tech companies to be established in Ireland and achieve international success. The company has a highly skilled and committed workforce. It is a successful company and is trading well. Many of the workers have worked there for more than 20 years and the average length of service is 25 years. This week I spoke to a man who has worked at the company for 43 years. In the general election campaign of 1992, the then Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, opened the factory on a rather wet and dreary morning and a great future was heralded at that time.

PCTel purchased this company, which was previously known as Sigma Wireless Technologies, less than a year ago in July 2005. In 2002 along with Motorola it designed and developed the real time signage which is used on Luas trams. Like like many other firms in this sector, it had experienced losses during 2001 and 2002, but at the time, Sigma was doing very well. It had a projected turnover of €15 million 2005 and employed more than 100 people at the Finglas plant.

On 22 February, the company notified the office of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment that 22 jobs were to be made redundant. This was further amended by letter on 1 March, just a few days ago, when a further 65 redundancies are being sought. It is uncertain whether this is a total of 65 redundancies or 65 plus 22. As one would expect, the sale in July 2005 caused the workers some concern. However, the previous owner stated at the time that this represented very good news for the Dublin plant. Given Sigma's customer base throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia, it was assumed that this Chicago-based company wanted to expand into these markets and therefore that business would continue as normal from Finglas.

PCTel bought the company for €19.5 million in cash and assumed €2.5 million in pension liabilities. The pension deficit should have been corrected by the previous owners. It is also worth noting that PCTel did not buy the land on which the plant stands. This remains in the hands of the previous owners, who will, I have no doubt, profit from its future sale or redevelopment. These previous owners should examine their obligations to the present staff who have been their loyal workforce for many years. I have no doubt that these workers will find other employment in the same or in another sector. The Forfás expert group on future skills needs recently estimated a demand in the electronics and micro-electronics sector of up to 2,500 professional engineers and 900 technologists a year.

None of this will ease the fact that losing one's job can be a thoroughly unpleasant and dispiriting experience for the person concerned and for his or her family. Economic growth does not benefit everyone all the time. There are losers, even if they are mostly losers only in the short term. Even in the best days of the Celtic tiger, substantial job losses occurred. In 1999, for example, a year that saw gross domestic product rise by an unprecedented 11%, more than 9,000 jobs or 8% of the total were lost in IDA Ireland-supported companies alone. It is a fair bet that most of the people affected have long since been re-employed and at higher wages. However, that does that mean that we should shrug off these losses so easily.

These job losses are in Finglas where many cannot afford to go through the uncertainty of short-term unemployment. It is for this reason that efforts must begin immediately to find a replacement industry. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that Finglas is listed as a priority area for the State's job creation and training agencies. Finglas has many advantages for an employer, including ease of access to major markets and a talented, educated workforce to fill high-tech jobs. It is now important that agencies such as IDA Ireland, FÁS and Enterprise Ireland highlight these advantages to future employers.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I was disappointed to hear that Sigma Wireless Technologies Limited has decided to make so many employees redundant from its facility at Finglas, Dublin 11. I understand that following a review of the company's financial position by its owner, PCTel Inc., in preparation for the consultation process with trade union representatives, it was confirmed that the company was in a precarious financial position and was continuing to lose money at an unacceptable rate.

I understand that PCTel Inc. has determined that it may be necessary to move all product lines from the company to manufacturing bases elsewhere to keep part of the Finglas plant in operation. Unfortunately, it seems that this revised proposal by the company will result in more redundancies than originally anticipated at the outset of the consultation process with only a small number of jobs remaining at its Finglas operation.

I am very conscious of the impact these job losses will have, not only on the employees concerned and their families but also on the community in the surrounding area. I assure the people concerned that the State agencies will provide every support they can. The priority will be to find alternative employment opportunities as soon as possible for those involved.

In this regard, I know that FÁS has been in contact with the company's human resources manager setting out the full range of services available from FÁS to the employees concerned. These will include interviews with the employees, preparation of a skills analysis report by FÁS based on the needs of the workers, details of opportunities available locally and customised training where appropriate.

In June 2005, Enterprise Ireland agreed to the acquisition of Sigma Wireless Technologies Limited by PCTel Inc. This acquisition was on the basis of a cash free, debt free sale only and the amount paid by PCTel was in the region of €20 million. Enterprise Ireland viewed the acquisition as an opportunity for Sigma Wireless Technologies to achieve scale. Consolidation in this industry was inevitable and the support and backing of a large parent company was viewed positively. While there was no guarantee to Enterprise Ireland that the Dublin operation would be developed as desired, the views from PCTel at that time were that the acquisition was a good strategic move for the company into Europe.

The industrial development agencies will make every effort to secure alternative employment for the area. Since the beginning of 2005, Enterprise Ireland has approved more than €33 million and made payments of more than €27 million in support of development projects for indigenous companies throughout the Dublin region. According to the information available, at the end of 2005, approximately 4,033 people were employed in 196 Enterprise Ireland companies in Fingal county and 23,508 people in 1,048 companies in Dublin city. This compares with 3,465 and 21,877 people employed respectively in 1996.

Enterprise Ireland has also invested significantly in community enterprise centres in the north of Dublin city to support the establishment and expansion of micro-enterprises through local community participation. Enterprise Ireland has also funded enterprise centres on the north side of the city at Ballymun, North King Street, Oxmantown Lane as well as the Bolton Trust Centre at East Wall Road, now managed by the Dublin Institute of Technology.

IDA Ireland, through its network of overseas offices, promotes north Dublin as an attractive location for foreign direct investment. IDA Ireland's strategy for Dublin is to progress the development of a knowledge economy so the region can compete nationally and internationally for foreign direct investment; work with the existing client base in Dublin to encourage them to expand and diversify into higher value added goods and services; act as a broker with the higher education authorities, key client companies and Science Foundation Ireland to encourage further research and development; provide modern property solutions with supporting infrastructure; and work with local authorities and other relevant agencies to influence the delivery of the necessary infrastructure.

Significant job announcements for the north Dublin area over the past 12 months include 100 jobs at Qlogic's EMEA headquarters locating in Blanchardstown Corporate Park and 400 jobs at Yahoo's European headquarters established in East Point Business Park. The proximity to Dublin Airport combined with access to the new port tunnel, both located in Fingal, is likely to generate a logistics base in this general area in the coming years. The completion of major infrastructural projects in the Blanchardstown-Finglas area will increase its attractiveness and suitability as a location for both indigenous and overseas business in coming years.

The State development agencies, under the aegis of my Department, will continue to market Dublin, including north Dublin for employment and investment opportunities and will make every effort to find alternative employment for the employees of Sigma Wireless who are now facing redundancy.