Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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8. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will report on the status of the inter-agency group set up to deal with the proposed job losses in Mondelez-Cadbury in Coolock, Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18300/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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As the Minister knows, it is well over three months since there was the threat of serious job losses at Mondelez-Cadbury in Coolock. We had a meeting in his Department and an inter-agency group was supposed to be set up, to be led by Enterprise Ireland. However, I found out from workers in Liberty Hall last Friday that e-mails were not being responded to, that no meetings had been held and that the momentum behind the inter-agency group, such as it was, was to find alternative jobs rather than to save the jobs that were under pressure. As the Minister knows, the workers have tried to come forward with mutually beneficial alternatives to Mondelez-Cadbury management, but they have received no assistance whatsoever from him or his Department.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Immediately after the announcement by the company concerned, I established an inter-agency group to co-ordinate the response to the proposed job losses. The group, chaired by Enterprise Ireland, will seek to secure alternative employment in the area affected and ensure departing workers will have access to supports they need from State agencies in seeking retraining, access to social welfare supports, advice on employment rights and advice and support for those workers who intend to start their own businesses. The group includes local enterprise offices, IDA Ireland, Solas, the education and training boards, the Department of Social Protection, the MABS, the Northside Partnership and the Citizens Information Bureau.

Enterprise Ireland has held meetings at all three of the sites affected by the proposed rationalisation. The inter-agency group made it clear that it stood ready to meet unions and staff representatives at any stage. This offer was deemed premature while discussions between the company and the union were still at a preliminary stage. However, the group remains ready to meet employee representatives at their convenience. Enterprise Ireland has been in contact with the company on a continuous basis regarding the assistance it can provide for the restructuring plan.

I understand management and employee representatives are in discussions on a variety of issues. I also understand the inter-agency group has been in direct contact with a representative of the workers and that a meeting is being arranged.

I continue to monitor the position very closely. The Labour Relations Commission stands ready to assist in the negotiations. Enterprise Ireland has held meetings with the company’s management on a weekly basis since the announcement of the proposed job losses. I have directed Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to continue their drive to find alternative projects for the area affected.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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The Minister still does not seem to get it. The key point is that the work force in the constituency wants to have the current jobs retained and that the threat of the loss of jobs to Poland needs a response. People have asked for assistance in terms of the accounting, economic studies and supports the Department might be able to provide for the workforce. However, the Minister is clearly indicating that he will not do any of this and that his role is to provide some method of seeking alternative employment. That response is simply not sufficient.

As I understand it, Mondelez-Cadbury is part of the joint 3G Capital-Berkshire Hathaway Group which has been imposing very severe conditions and cutbacks at its plants in the United States. We now have this transfer of production to Poland where, obviously, workers will be on much lower pay and conditions. We have a process whereby workers are being hired on temporary contracts and totally different conditions than the existing workforce. This is a very important industrial workforce in an area that used to be part of the Minister's constituency and has always been part of mine. It has to be said the Minister's response is incredibly lacklustre and lethargic.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I completely deny that that is the case. Enterprise Ireland will support any restructuring plan agreed by the unions and the company. Once they work out a plan, we stand ready to support it in many ways, for example, by developing lean processes, providing training and support in undertaking research and development. Obviously, a restructuring plan has to be negotiated between the company and the unions and it has to be done collectively. The Labour Relations Commission stands ready to assist in that process. If there are issues about access to accounting details, the Labour Relations Commission has a long record of helping the two parties to deal with these issues in an effective way. It stands ready to assist both the unions and the management of the company to hammer out a restructuring deal of that nature. When that is done, Enterprise Ireland stands ready to support it with a suite of supports. We had the very same situation at Bausch and Lomb where there was a huge difficulty and very difficult changes had to be made. New investment was attracted by the company, as Cadbury is committing to doing in this case. Just 12 months on, we had the recent announcement of expansion in employment. There is a track record of using the Labour Relations Commission and the supports of the agencies involved to develop alternative plans. That assistance is available to both sides.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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A long time has passed since the meeting we had at the Minister's Department, yet we have seen absolutely nothing happen. As I said, I have been told e-mails from SIPTU and the workforce have not even been replied to. I received an e-mail yesterday from the Minister and another this morning from one of the officials at Enterprise Ireland. There is foot-dragging. It is not the proactive approach on which I would have thought the Minister would have embarked, particularly in the case of something that affects his own constituents. For example, there is supposed to be an €11.7 million reinvestment programme, but we know nothing about it because the Minister, Enterprise Ireland and the rest of the group simply have not been engaged. The clear message is that people want to have the jobs retained in this historic plant which has always been at the cutting edge of food production. They do not want the Minister to come along and talk about people becoming entrepreneurs and so on, which, for many, is totally unrealistic. They want the Minister to save the current jobs.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The company has committed clearly, both to me and the workforce, to making this investment. That is the context in which the negotiations are under way. The negotiations were delayed to some degree, for reasons the Deputy will know, but they have now started. We stand ready, through the Labour Relations Commission, to assist on the technical side. The Labour Relations Commission has a long record of supporting workers, unions and managements in working through restructuring. The company is committed to making the investment and Enterprise Ireland is committed to working with the company through the suite of supports it offers. The support of the agencies involved is available. However, this is a negotiation between the workers and the company and a solution has to evolve. We will facilitate its emergence in every way we can.