Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to discuss plans to lay-off up to 120 workers at the Meadow Meats factory in Rathdowney in the immediate term, fears for the jobs of the remaining 80 workers in the plant and the devastation this will cause in Rathdowney, County Laois, and the surrounding areas in view of very little alternative employment in the area. Will the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment negotiate with the company with a view to retaining as many of these jobs as possible in County Laois?

Last Friday on 26 June, the workers in the plant in Rathdowney were called in by management for an announcement and they received the very severe news. The Meadow Meats factory, as it is known locally, is part of the Dawn Meats factory group. The workers were told the company proposed to close the boning hall and the packing area in the factory, which has been in Rathdowney for many years. The boning hall is where the meat is cut up. It is ultimately packed for order in the packing area.

This is a very profitable company - it is not being closed because it is a loss-making business. This company has extensive plans in Cork, Waterford, although technically on the Kilkenny-Waterford border, and in Ballyhaunis. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, will be aware of the Dawn Meats factory in Ballyhaunis because it is in his constituency

I am sure the Minister has had discussions with the company because it would have applied to the Department for grants for improvement works at its various plants. To my knowledge, the company, unfortunately, did not include Rathdowney in that proposal.

Will the Minister give some information on the plans for the abattoir, or the killing plant? Will the workers employed in that section be able to continue in employment there in the years to come? A number of the workers in the factory in Rathdowney have been good and loyal workers. Some of them have worked there for 20 to 30 years. Meat factories are not the highest paying factories in the country but during the years of the Celtic tiger, the workforce remained loyal to the company in the town. They could have left for better paying jobs in the short term but they stuck it out for the long haul.

People will be also aware that there was a fine zinc mine, Galmoy, in the immediate Rathdowney area. It is only a few miles from Rathdowney on the Johnstown Road to County Kilkenny. It also ceased operations recently.

The loss of 120 jobs at Meadow Meats, Rathdowney, is devastating for the employees and their families, many of whom have large mortgages and financial commitments. SIPTU is in negotiations with the company on the redundancies and I wish it success in this regard. The main difficulty for Rathdowney is that it has no alternative sources of employment. Effects on the town's community and local businesses will be severe. Any threat to the abattoir's future will also cause problems for local farmers who supply cattle to the factory.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment should call in IDA Ireland officials to acquaint them with County Laois. I know no one at senior level in the IDA who is acquainted with the county. IDA Ireland's track record in County Laois is the worst for any county. No Member will recall an IDA announcement for serious job creation in the county in over 20 years. Less than 100 IDA-supported jobs have been provided in the county, the lowest national figure.

As we have given up having faith in IDA Ireland in County Laois, I hope it and Enterprise Ireland can find some replacement jobs. I hope the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment will, through her office, do what is possible to minimise these recent job losses in County Laois. I accept Meadow Meats has offered alternative employment in its sister Waterford plant. However, a proper transport allowance would have to be provided to travel the 200 km round trip every day between Rathdowney and Grannagh, County Waterford. For many employees and their families, this will not be a practical alternative. I ask that a good redundancy structure be put in place and for a commitment that those jobs remaining at the Rathdowney plant will be guaranteed into the long term.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Fleming for raising this matter on the Adjournment.

I am aware of the situation in Rathdowney and am concerned about the situation at the plant in question. I understand jobs are being transferred to Grannagh, County Waterford, as part of the company's rationalisation strategy to bring scale to its boning activities. I am aware of the effect the transferring of these jobs will have on the workers involved and their families, as well as on the local community.

The company is rationalising its existing facilities to yield significant savings. It submitted a business plan under the beef and sheep meat fund, administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. This business plan was approved by Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Government. It is being undertaken to increase capacity utilisation, cut costs, enhance scale and international competitiveness and it is in line with the sectorial strategy for the beef sector.

As part of the company's rationalisation strategy, it is amalgamating boning activities in Rathdowney and at its site in Grannagh in County Waterford. Up to 100 operative jobs will be transferred to Grannagh by the end of August 2009. While 100 members of staff in the Rathdowney facility are being offered positions at the Grannagh facility, the remaining 100 employees will be retained in slaughtering on the current site in County Laois. Employment in the Waterford plant is expected to exceed 300 by 2011.

With the implementation of this business plan, the company forecasts it will increase employment from 1,400 to almost 1,500 between 2009 and 2012 across three plants. Sales at the company are forecast to rise significantly with exports expected to increase significantly. The gross investment planned by the company in Ireland over this time is also very significant.

To ensure job creation and job retention, the Government, through the State development agencies and other interested parties, adopts a co-ordinated approach in dealing with the particular situation. All the agencies work together in making people aware of the supports available to assist in finding new employment or to start their own businesses.

While there has been a decline in the multinational sector in County Laois in recent years, IDA Ireland is marketing Portlaoise as a key location for investment in the globally traded services sector. A significant investment has been made in a quality flagship business park in Portlaoise. This is now an integral part of the agency's international marketing programme.

In addition, the State development agency Enterprise Ireland, responsible for the promotion of indigenous industry, is continuing to address enterprise development in County Laois with several of its client companies developing their businesses there. The agency works intensively with companies, both individually and in sectorial groups, to help them exploit market opportunities and to promote innovation and enhance their international capabilities.

The Laois County Enterprise Board continues to provide support for the micro-enterprise sector in the county. This year, it will continue to be actively involved in the county's economic development, ensuring that available funds are targeted to maximise entrepreneurial development throughout the locality.

The strategies and policies being pursued by the State development agencies in Rathdowney and County Laois will continue to support enterprise development and job creation in the area. The State agencies will continue to work closely with each other and with local interests to assist in maintaining an integrated approach to investment and enterprise development. This will be particularly important for workers who are not in a position to relocate to County Waterford and want to remain in County Laois.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Waterford has traditionally been a modern manufacturing centre since the 1950s. During the past ten years, there have been substantial job losses in this sector, however. Unfortunately, no real strategy has been developed at national level in replacing these manufacturing jobs.

If the trend continues, the amount of manufacturing industry left in Waterford in ten years time will be a matter of grave concern. In regard to the Waterford constituency, as of last Friday the live register for Dungarvan was 2,209 while the live register for Waterford city was 12,250. The comparative figures for the same weekend last year were 1,256 for Dungarvan as against 7,466 for Waterford. These figures represent an increase of 4,794 for Waterford city and an increase of 953 for Dungarvan.

A further blow for Waterford yesterday was the announcement that another 120 jobs are to go at the Bausch & Lomb plant. For the 1,100 employees who will remain at Bausch & Lomb, major issues regarding competitiveness of the plant must be addressed. Already some production of Bausch & Lomb's range of contact lenses is moving to the parent plant in Rochester, New York State.

This followed the announcement last week that ABB Transformers Limited in Waterford will cease production at the end of March 2010 with the loss of 178 jobs. Transformers have been manufactured at the same site in Waterford for 40 years. The plant is currently building a transformer for Great Garbert wind farm on the Thames in south England and one for Hunter's Hill in County Fermanagh.

The Government, particularly the Green Party members, makes great play of the green economy. I have already taken up the moving forward of wind generation electricity projects with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, so that ABB would be in a position to tender for the transformers in such operations. If the State is to move forward on alternative energy sources in a meaningful way, surely the national capacity for producing transformers, a vital part of such development, needs to be maintained and indeed developed.

Many companies in Waterford are on short time. I understand one is because it is awaiting payment from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Manufacturing of crystal in Waterford ended this year. In 1988, Waterford Crystal employed 3,200 people at three plants in Kilbarry, Dungarvan and Butlerstown. Waterford Crystal employees are still awaiting payment of minimum notice and holiday pay entitlements from the insolvency fund in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to rectify this position.

For the past ten years, the Government had no effective strategy in place to retain manufacturing jobs, to expand on existing employment, to attract new investment and to encourage local entrepreneurs to develop projects and employment in the areas where we can best compete. The key to such a strategy should be the upgrading of Waterford Institute of Technology to university status so that Waterford and the south east region can develop a research and development capacity and provide the fourth level education that is needed to allow the region to prosper. The structures that need to be put in place should include each of the many effective players in the Waterford area. Real Government intervention is urgently needed in the Waterford area to deal with the developing jobs crisis. There is a great need to draw on the resources of the trade union movement as a full and equal partner in the context of the developments that will take place. The role of the trade union movement in dealing with the crisis on the ground needs to be recognised as the positive contribution it is. It is totally and utterly unacceptable that the situation is being allowed to drift at present. I demand that urgent, appropriate and effective action be taken by the Government to ensure Waterford's long-term future. The loss of so much manufacturing and construction employment is also having a detrimental effect on the retail sector, which is a large employer in Waterford.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy O'Shea for raising this important issue. I will give the House the most up-to-date information on the unemployment situation in Waterford. The most recent live register figures that are broken down by region were published in May. They showed that 13,661 people - 9,047 male and 4,614 female - were signing on the register in County Waterford at that time. The national live register figures for the end of June, which were published earlier this week, showed the continued strong upward trend in the number of people signing on the dole. When seasonal factors are taken into account, some 413,500 people were signing on the live register last month. That figure represents a month-on-month increase of 11,400. On the basis of the figures I have given the House, our standardised unemployment rate is currently 11.9%. It is worth pointing out that in the 12-month period to the end of May 2009, some 144,000 people left the live register as they had secured employment, which shows that jobs continue to be created. We need to tailor our activation measures to ensure unemployed people have the best chance of securing employment as soon as possible. We can agree that the current economic crisis probably represents the greatest challenge to this country's well-being since the 1980s. Our public finances have deteriorated, our unemployment rates continue to rise and our banking system is need of continued remedial action.

The aim of IDA Ireland's strategy for County Waterford is to make progress with the development of a knowledge-based economy so that the county and, particularly, the gateway of Waterford city can compete nationally and internationally for foreign direct investment. The strategy includes the provision of world-class property and supporting infrastructure of scale in the Waterford city area. Enterprise Ireland delivers a wide range of supports to Irish companies. The supports are targeted at the specific requirements of clients in all regions, including Waterford, to ensure that they develop to their full potential in terms of employment, innovation and exports and, in turn, stimulate job creation.

Enterprise Ireland, which recognises the significant changes presented by the current state of the economy, has prepared a new recovery strategy. The strategy involves the management of the enterprise stabilisation fund, which provides €100 million to help viable but vulnerable companies to overcome the current economic difficulties. The Waterford city and county enterprise boards serve the Waterford region by providing support for the micro-enterprise sector in the start-up and expansion phases, promoting and developing indigenous micro-enterprise potential and stimulating economic activity and entrepreneurship throughout the county. The stimulation of entrepreneurship can positively contribute to job creation by leading to the establishment of viable growth-orientated businesses.

The Government is acutely aware of the negative impact unemployment can have on individuals, families and society as a whole. It has invested substantial resources to address this problem. In 2009, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is investing €1 billion in a range of labour force activation measures to assist the unemployed. For example, the Department and FÁS have put in place measures to double their capacity to deal with the increase in live register referrals from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The implementation of these measures has increased the annual referral capacity to 147,000 people this year.

Since the end of 2008, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, through FÁS, has almost doubled its provision of training and work experience activation places for the unemployed. Over 128,000 such places are available to assist those who have lost their jobs. The places are available on a broad range of programmes, including FÁS specific skills training courses, bridging foundation traineeships and newer programmes such as the work placement programme. The latter programme offers a six-month work placement to unemployed people, while allowing them to retain their social welfare payments. All the programmes are available and being delivered in County Waterford.

To date in 2009, FÁS employment services in Waterford have placed over 1,000 people in employment, education and training courses. FÁS has provided guidance and training to 420 redundant Waterford Crystal employees since January 2009. There has been considerable engagement between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the management of Waterford Crystal on the payment of the outstanding amounts. I pay tribute to the team in the insolvency unit, which has dealt with this matter as constructively as possible. I assure Deputy O'Shea that a great deal of work is taking place to ensure that those payments are made. I will continue to update him on the progress being made in that regard. The Government remains committed to meeting the ongoing challenges in the labour market. In addition to specific training activation measures, the Government will continue to focus on supporting and promoting enterprise development to create new jobs at national and county level. Continuing to support employment creation will be the key determinant in addressing our current unemployment problem. In the interim, we will continue to provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities to those who find themselves out of employment so they will be able to avail of future employment opportunities.