Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important topic for debate. The topic in question concerns the peremptory and sudden announcement by Imperial Tobacco last Thursday that it will close its manufacturing facilities in Mullingar from October next with the loss of 87 quality jobs. The company did so on the day the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation attended important events at the National Life Sciences & Engineering Expo in Mullingar. The company says the decision to close resulted from the implementation of the EU directive that set the minimum size of tobacco packs and the weight of hand-rolled tobacco packs at 30g. Essentially, this led to a significant number of production lines that produced smaller sizes of hand-rolled tobacco being decommissioned. Not everyone is convinced by this explanation and there is no reference to the decline in consumption or anything else. The production line will move to the Netherlands. Where is the Netherlands located? It is not Asia or the Americas, the Netherlands is in the heart of Europe and the same EU directive applies there so not every worker is convinced by the explanation that has been provided.

No prior indication that the plant was in difficulty or in danger of closure was given to anybody involved, particularly the loyal employees. Did the company even extend the courtesy to the early warning section in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to alert the Minister that it intended to drop this bombshell upon unsuspecting employees, one of whom has well over 40 years of wonderful service and many of whom have in excess of 30 years service in what was much-sought-after unionised employment with a good industrial relations environment and excellent terms and conditions? While the workers were left reeling and devastated by this bombshell announcement, the town of Mullingar was likewise stunned as the factory played a pivotal role in its economy for well nigh 50 years. Mullingar has had no IDA Ireland-backed factory or industry since 2000 and this business has moved on in the interim. Despite politicians of all persuasions and none, including myself, strongly advocating the case for the capital town of Westmeath, IDA Ireland has never prioritised Mullingar properly for investment.

We are asking the Minister to call on IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and other relevant agencies that deal with employment to immediately prioritise Mullingar, which is located in the heart of Ireland and equidistant north, south, east and west for foreign direct and indigenous investment. We have an excellent educated and mobile workforce, many of whom travel eastwards every morning to their place of employment. We have an excellent primary and secondary road network, a decent rail transport to Dublin, great primary and secondary educational facilities and a strong link to Athlone Institute of Technology, which is 30 minutes away, and NUI Maynooth, which is also 30 minutes away to the east. We also have wonderful leisure and recreational facilities and an open invitation from the local authority, chamber of commerce, trade unions and business interests. Establishing a wide-ranging task force is paramount at this stage. This is not a time for political game playing or platitudes and I assure the Minister that all public representatives at local level, including Deputy Troy and I, are united in our determination to promulgate the interests of Mullingar at this critical juncture.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter. My colleague is right. Last Thursday's announcement was devastating for Mullingar. A total of 87 people and their families lost high-quality jobs. This is a business that has supported generations of families in Mullingar since its establishment in 1967. I have engaged regularly with the management since the announcement and I have been advised that it is dealing with the Department of Social Protection, officials from which will explain to employees the benefits to which they will be entitled. There will be some opportunities for redeployment for the staff. However, what is being done is not nearly adequate.

I will deviate slightly from what my colleague said. What is happening in this instance is the consequence of an EU directive relating to the size and weight of tobacco packs. As far back as February 2013, the previous Government was warned about how this directive could affect jobs in this area. Nobody could argue that tobacco smoke seriously damages health and we need to do all we possibly can to reduce the number of people who smoke. However, nobody consulted this company. There was no compromise. Ministers in the previous Government refused to meet representatives from the company in question, which runs a legitimate business. Meanwhile, smuggling and unauthorised developments continue along the Border. In February 2013, when the previous Government was informed of the consequences of the directive to which I refer, did it put in place any strategy to deal with alternative work for the workers who were going to lose their jobs? I appreciate the fact that the Minister took my call last Thursday and engaged with me. I ask her to instruct IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to prioritise Mullingar as a centre for development because not only have we lost these jobs, we have not benefited from any IDA Ireland visits in recent years. There was an increase in unemployment in the midlands, where Mullingar is located, in the first quarter of 2016. This is a top priority and I hope it is being treated as such by the Minister. I ask her to outline what she and her Department are going to do to ensure replacement work for those who have lost their jobs.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputies Penrose and Troy for raising this matter. I have had telephone calls form Senator Gabrielle McFadden and Deputy Burke on the same issue. Clearly, my first thoughts are with the 87 workers affected by this announcement. I am very conscious of the anxiety that the announcement creates for the workers and their families as well as the local community.

In regard to the employees concerned, Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation that offers extensive protection to employees. The staff of the Workplace Relations Commission are available to meet the employees concerned, either individually or collectively, to discuss their employment rights. I urge the employees concerned to make contact with the commission.

I wish to clarify that the Government and I are not in a position to grant any financial aid to the company involved. The World Health Organization has a set of guidelines which state that because tobacco products are lethal, businesses producing them should not be granted incentives to run their operations. The circumstances here are unique to this sector and are not necessarily caused by any enterprise policy failure. It is an outcome of tougher regulations from our health sector to help protect our citizens' health. For this reason, Enterprise Ireland is not in a position to support the company concerned. In regard to providing assistance for the company concerned, I will make sure that Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland support the Westmeath region.

In terms of job creation in the midlands, and in Mullingar in particular, Enterprise Ireland supports entrepreneurs who are setting up start-up companies in manufacturing and internationally traded services. Enterprise Ireland is also focused on the creation of new jobs through continuing to work with established companies in its client portfolio in the midlands. In addition to marketing Mullingar and the midlands for new investment, IDA Ireland works with its existing client companies in the area with a view to encouraging them to grow and embed their business. IDA Ireland has been working towards targets set out in its strategy "Winning -Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019". For the first time, ambitious investment targets have been set on a regional basis whereby the agency aims to increase the level of investment by between 30% and 40% in each region.

The work by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland is part of a wider Government push to create employment across the regions. My Department has published eight regional action plans for jobs, including a plan for the midlands. The core objective of the action plan for jobs for the midland region is to support the creation of an extra 14,200 jobs by 2020 through the delivery of 119 actions focusing on increasing the number of start-ups and developing the capacity of existing enterprises. These actions include the establishment of a manufacturing technologies campus and a series of measures, delivered through Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices, LEOs, to promote 25% more start-ups, including extra funding, mentoring programmes and new incubator space for entrepreneurs such as the Junction in Tullamore, which I visited recently.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I have three more pages. They might be included in the record.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister can come in again.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Something must be done about a task force for Mullingar because it has been bypassed on too many occasions. This facility is profitable so I do not know how the company could be seeking finance. SIPTU's intention is to initially try to preserve as many of the jobs as possible and I support it wholeheartedly in this approach. Why was there an effort to restructure the plant, with some voluntary redundancies leading to a certain amount of downsizing? Why did the company not take steps to modify the machinery and equipment - much of which was set up for producing cigarette packs and rolls below 30g - and adapt it to deal with the minimum pack size of 30g? The company had three years to adjust and invest. Why did it not do that?

I researched the closure of the Imperial production plants and distribution hubs in Nottingham and Nantes. They are now moving to Germany and Poland, which are in the EU so the tobacco directive applies there. I have to question this. I note from the statement by the company announcing the closure of its Mullingar plant that its remaining production from Mullingar will transfer to another of its manufacturing sites in the Netherlands. The latter is not in Asia or the USA but right in the heart of Europe. It is relevant to ask whether the company is using the increased EU regulations as a cover or a ploy to shut this factory? It is a question that affects the staff and they deserve to have it answered.

My predecessor, the late Jimmy Bennett, played a big role in obtaining the land on which the factory is built. I hope the maximum number of jobs will be preserved there. The employees will obviously be very well looked after and I hope the premises will be transferred to IDA Ireland, Westmeath County Council or somebody else to ensure it is preserved as a significant base to attract businesses to Westmeath.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Unfortunately, IDA Ireland has ignored this region in recent years. That is why I did not support the previous Government. This region was totally and utterly ignored. Marlinstown business park would be lying empty if Patterson Pump had not relocated there. I accept that tougher tobacco regulation is needed but it was imperative for IDA Ireland and the previous Government to engage with this business when it was forewarned in February 2013 of the consequence of the directive. It is possible the company is using the directive to relocate to locations where labour is cheaper. We were warned in February 2013 that this could happen. What strategy was put in place by the previous Government in 2013 to ensure that when the inevitable happened, there would be something in place for the 87 people who will lose their jobs at the end of this year? The former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Senator James Reilly, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the previous Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, were written to in 2013 but no action was taken. I accept the Minister's sincerity and her bona fides but the problem is that the midlands region, of which Westmeath is part, is one of only three regions of eight nationally that suffered an increase in unemployment in the first quarter of this year. We have an issue there which needs to be addressed. We need a specifically designated task force to come in and work in our region to ensure that we have job creation in future.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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IDA Ireland is targeting a minimum of 30% to 40% increase in the number of investments in the area. There are 33 multinational companies based in the midlands employing 4,214 people and most of the companies have been located in County Westmeath.

I will give the Deputies the facts on IDA Ireland site visits in Westmeath. There were nine site visits in quarter 1 of 2016. In 2015 there were 28 site visits to Westmeath; 12 in 2014; nine in 2013; and seven in 2012.

I met the Deputies when I was in Mullingar last week. I was very disappointed to get the news because I had visited the IDA Ireland business and technology site in Mullingar and toured the successful Patterson Pump plant. Patterson Pump is looking at the possibility of acquiring an extra two acres on site. I am aware that there is a very strong cluster focus in the region, with medical technology, life sciences and international business services such as Teleflex and Axa. I also enjoyed very much the National Life Sciences and Engineering Expo in Mullingar that was organised by the very busy and effective Mullingar Chamber of Commerce. I spoke to potential multinationals of the future and to some start-ups with huge potential. I recognise that more needs to be done in the context of growing companies and ensuring that IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland target the midlands region. It is my ambition and I promise to create the right environment in the region and rural Ireland in order to generate long-term employment.