John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise what to my constituents is an extremely important matter. I also thank the Minister for his presence. We raise matters on the Adjournment on several occasions over the year and it is not always possible for the appropriate Minister to reply. Tonight he shows by his presence how seriously he is treating the imminent demise of Castlemahon Food Products Limited in west Limerick.

Yesterday was a bad and bleak day for workers in Castlemahon and growers in the area. I will start on a positive note by saying that we still have a chance to salvage at least part of that operation. It is extremely important that we think positively. I know that there are moves afoot as we speak to try to ensure that. We should preface our remarks by being positive and trying to encourage everyone with the responsibility of playing a part to come on board. I am of course seriously concerned for the 300 workers who face an extremely bleak few months approaching Christmas. They are predominantly young people who have taken on commitments in life and who need a week's wages coming into their house. In some cases both partners are being affected, and we must make every effort to ensure that we can save as many of those jobs as possible.

Second, the growers are predominantly small farmers on family holdings around the Castlemahon area and a little farther afield. Some 80 to 100 growers are dependent on the income that they received from the production of chicken for the Castlemahon processing unit, having diversified from dairying. We must try to ensure that a market can be secured for those growers. The best possible market is that which they have locally in Castlemahon. We must reinvigorate the Castlemahon brand name, which is famous all over the country and the UK. It is very important that we do so.

A worst-case scenario is Castlemahon's total demise, which I certainly hope does not occur. In that event, I will call on the Minister, his Department and all the statutory agencies to come on board and make every effort to ensure that they step up to the plate for Castlemahon and west Limerick in general. We have not had a positive response from the IDA or Enterprise Ireland for many years in this regard.

I recognise that we have had massive investment and support for indigenous industry in west Limerick. We have seen many jobs created, but when five, ten or 20 jobs are created, we do not have a fanfare of announcements or recognise their value to our communities. They are valuable, and I hope that we can continue creating such posts. I acknowledge the support of the county enterprise board, West Limerick Resources, Shannon Development and others in that regard. However, as I have said, IDA Ireland has a case to answer for west Limerick and I hope that it will now step up to the mark and help in whatever way it can to ensure success.

This comes hot on the heels of the demise of Kantoher, part of the Kerry Group, which was also a chicken-processing unit, 14 or 15 months ago. I acknowledge the success story that has taken place and the efforts of everyone concerned. The local action group or task force put in place is to be commended on its tremendous work in turning a very gloomy and sad story into something very positive. It has been accused of being a talking shop. I neither accept nor agree with that, since it has successfully applied for grant aid from the Minister to provide a new enterprise park in the Kantoher area. To his credit, following a visit to the area at my request, the Minister approved the appointment of a development officer, which I believe will shortly occur. The area has also secured a site for the enterprise project from the Kerry Group, whose efforts I also acknowledge, since it has been more than helpful to the local community.

We were getting up off our knees and heading in the right direction, but yesterday's news was very severe. It is important that we not start playing the blame game or scoring political points. All of us — public representatives, State agencies, the Department and the Minister — must work together to try to ensure that we can reverse this as completely as we reversed the previous situation in Kantoher.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The Deputy should conclude.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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We have been very dependent on food processing in west Limerick and I concede that there have been difficulties throughout Ireland's chicken processing industry, although not to the same extent as in Castlemahon. This news has not come as a surprise to me since closure has been threatened for some time. While people were devastated when the final announcement was made, I have taken the opportunity over the past few months to keep the Minister and his counterpart in the Department of Agriculture and Food briefed.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The Deputy must conclude.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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They both responded in whatever way they could. At the time of the most recent restructuring in Castlemahon, we were promised reinvestment and modernisation.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The Deputy has exceeded his time.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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That did not happen. I understood I had——

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Five minutes.

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has now had seven minutes and I hope that I get as long.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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All that reinvestment and modernisation happened at the parent company in Armagh, the O'Kane Group, rather than in Castlemahon, something that I very much regret. I once again appeal to the Minister to make every effort possible. He has very kindly made himself available at my request to meet people in the coming days and I hope we can work together to try to replace those jobs.

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for providing the opportunity, which I requested yesterday, to raise this issue of vital importance to west Limerick, namely, the news that the processing plant, Castlemahon Food Products, is in liquidation and likely to close. It is a major blow to the local population, especially to the 350 people employed at the plant and in allied work at Castlemahon. They face a very bleak situation. Many of them have been in the plant for decades and developed skills that must be recognised. The plant should be saved in some way through working with the liquidator to ensure that those skills are utilised.

The likelihood that Castlemahon will close compounds a situation which arose in January 2005 when 140 jobs were lost at Kantoher Poultry Products, adjacent to the area, as well as 140 jobs at that time in Castlemahon. Between direct and indirect employment there could be a loss of 1,000 jobs in that small region, where the poultry industry was so important since 1960 when Castlemahon moved into that area, having been established as a co-operative in 1920. The factory has been a valuable employer and an integral part of the community in west Limerick, an area where there has been considerable deprivation. Employees, their families and local suppliers are rocked by this news. The economic cost to the area is enormous.

It is especially devastating in an area of west Limerick where the population is in decline and where alternative job opportunities are severely limited. Suppliers to the plant will be severely hit, too, and their situation must be immediately clarified. In the case of Kantoher there was continuation of supply to the parent plant at Kerry. We do not know what the situation is in the case of Castlemahon and it is quite serious. In fact, this an area where there has been increased unemployment in recent times, as the figures show. It is high time that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for Agriculture and Food opened their eyes to the haemorrhaging of employment from regional rural communities such as this before we become a country of ghost towns.

The Government must immediately organise a committee of relevant services, high profile people and institutions to establish replacement industries and ensure the availability of employment for those being made redundant so that families have an opportunity to continue to live in the area, pay their mortgages and rear their children there. A particular responsibility rests with the major party in Government, Fianna Fáil, to ensure that the 300 to 350 jobs are replaced immediately. The loss of Castlemahon Food Products would eliminate sixfold the work done by many organisations and public-spirited people who campaigned over many years to have 50 jobs decentralised to Newcastle West.

The Minister might say that the poultry industry in Ireland is a highly competitive one. It is, for two reasons. The first is the admittance of third country products from countries such as Thailand where increased production results in products being labelled as Irish. There is no traceability. The effect such cheap products will have on the poultry industry has been pointed out time and again, yet this situation has been accepted by the Government. Poultry farmers have survived in Ireland and especially in this area by dint of hard work and strategic expansion where possible. The industry as a whole, however, has suffered dramatically from increased costs. The cost issue of the Castlemahon plant is something that has been raised.

The industry must also meet excessively high standards imposed by Government while competing against the inferior products that in many cases are not even traceable. The issue of the importation of Third World products is crucial in this competitive area and the Minister must take this on board. Growers have invested substantially in their enterprises. Many of them have heavy borrowings. Many will see most of their livelihoods destroyed. They will have to meet their borrowings regardless of what happens. I took a call from a poultry producer today who simply asked me whether he would need planning permission to knock his poultry house, because that is all he can do with it. When I checked it out, by the way, the answer was "No".

That is the sad situation such people find themselves in. Since this Administration came to power, an industry that was crucial to the economy of that area of west Limerick, from Newcastle West to Castlemahon to Kantoher and up as far as Charleville, has disappeared. That is a legacy which this Government has given to the poultry industry and its 1,000 employees in that area of west Limerick and up to 100 suppliers who will be made redundant, without the opportunity to negotiate redundancy packages. I ask the Minister to get the Government to talk to the liquidator to ensure that what can be saved is saved. The skills of the people there, built up over some 46 years, is the key to ensuring that the poultry industry continues in this area. I thank the Minister for his time.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for raising these matters. I appreciate Deputy Cregan's very constructive approach in his opening statement by trying to look for a way forward to see whether we can salvage something from yesterday's pessimistic announcement of the appointment of a liquidator and next month's High Court hearing in the matter.

I thank Deputy Neville for raising it, and appreciate his concerns, but people in general are far more sensible in terms of their appreciation of global forces, competition and the need to work on our existing industries to make them more competitive and to invest. That depends on companies taking decisions as well. Enterprise Ireland is available to assist companies on an ongoing basis to modernise, to change what they are doing and to move in terms of market needs. It is still ready to be of assistance, if necessary, but Deputy Cregan made the point that there seems to be a degree of consolidation involved from west Limerick to other parts of the island, such as Armagh. West Limerick has suffered as a result.

Fundamentally, however, if job losses occur here, it affects the workers involved and their families, as Deputy Cregan and Deputy Neville have said, as well as the community in the surrounding areas. It would be very distressing news for them and I want to assure the people concerned that the relevant State agencies will do everything they possibly can to provide support. The priority in the event of closure will be to find alternative employment at the earliest opportunity for those involved. The role of FÁS, the training agency, will be particularly important in assisting those who are to lose their jobs.

In February 2005, the company announced a restructuring plan which involved a reduction in staff numbers of 150, down from 410 to 260. In May of that year, it confirmed that workers at the company had accepted its redundancy offer by a large majority and at that stage there was talk of further investment. Unfortunately, matters have not improved over the past 18 months. In fact, they have continued to worsen. The current level of profitability in the Irish poultry sector is very low. This is due to a very fierce competitive market and increased volumes of cheaper imports from abroad. Nevertheless, I understand the liquidator will be working closely with the management and other interests over the next few weeks in an effort to find new owners for the enterprise.

Basically, the company has been operating in a very competitive market and has been trading at a loss for a number of years. During this very difficult period, Enterprise Ireland has been in regular contact with the company. Discussions were centred on potential involvement by the agency in the future development of the company. However, despite the best efforts of all concerned, it was not possible to avoid the situation that has been reached. Given its local presence in the area, Shannon Development has moved quickly to assist with efforts to minimise the effect of the closure on west Limerick and the Newcastle West area. Within 24 hours of the public announcement, Shannon Development has arranged a meeting of West Limerick Resources Ltd., a local group in which Shannon Development is an active board member. The group, chaired by Shannon Development and comprised of key local groups in the area has done much valuable work following the closure of Kantoher Poultry Products last year, with the loss of 138 jobs. Together with representatives from Limerick County Enterprise Board and West Limerick Resources Ltd., the agency will meet all public representatives in the area to discuss how Shannon Development can support those affected by the closure. Shannon Development will set up an internal working group to identify opportunities to assist those affected.

As well as these initiatives, Shannon Development will stay in close contact with the Newcastle West Chamber of Commerce, which I recently met with Deputies Cregan and Collins. The most recent live register figures, for August 2006, show a total of 6,327 for Limerick city and 1,006 for Newcastle West. While the figure for Limerick city is down from 6,769 in the corresponding month in 2002, the figure for Newcastle West is up by 79. However, overall figures for Limerick city and county show a decline in the live register from 8,593 in August 2002 to 8,253 in August 2006. There is a churn in employment across the country. Traditional industries are under pressure and are closing, while other industries, especially the service industry, are providing much employment. In the past five or six years, more than 440,000 jobs were created in services and 150,000 in high-end manufacturing. There has been a complete turn around in the nature of employment. Much employment has moved to cities and towns. We have asked the agencies to do what they can for indigenous enterprise and foreign direct investment.

West Limerick in general is well serviced with industry with major companies such as Wyeth, Aughinish Alumina, Kostal, Ballygowan, and Pallas Foods being the major employers in the vicinity of Newcastle West. In 2004, Shannon Development completed the land purchase and business plan for a new business park in Newcastle West. The park is located on a 40-acre site adjoining the town, and infrastructural and servicing work on the first 20 acres is in place. A BES unit, approved by Shannon Development, is now in place on the business park and clients are being sought. Shannon Development has sold three sites to industrial companies and construction on these sites should commence by the end of this year. In addition to these developments already under way, Shannon Development has solid inquiries on its books regarding site purchases for the business park. These developments will help strengthen the industrial base of the Newcastle West area.

A central goal for the industrial development agencies is the achievement of balanced regional development. The attractiveness of Limerick lies in its position as a regional gateway, with a critical mass and infrastructure necessary to attract mobile investment to the region. The Government and the agencies recognise the need to provide high volume employment opportunities in Limerick that result in sustainable long-term jobs. The strategies adopted have proved successful to date despite a competitive and ever-changing global economy. It is disappointing to see job losses in the poultry sector, but Limerick has a strong base of foreign direct investment jobs. The most recent figures available — for December 2005 — show that there are 38 overseas companies employing more than 8,500 people in permanent jobs and a further 1,500 in temporary and contract employment. Most of these 10,000 jobs are in the city environs but as a result of the job losses in the company concerned, I am confident the State development agencies will strengthen their marketing and promotion efforts in the region 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.

I assure the Deputies that we will do everything we can to assist the workers concerned by matching them with jobs created in the locality. We will get the industrial agencies to move to attract the new industry and to create indigenous industry in the area.