Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I raise the issue of the announcement that the Miza, formerly Antigen, pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Roscrea, County Tipperary, is to close, with a substantial loss of employment for the town. The Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, will be familiar with the situation.

Two specific issues arise from this, and I thank an Leas-Chathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to raise them. The first is the question of statutory redundancy and the second is that of the examinership of Antigen and Miza and the effects thereof. I have concerns about how the examinership worked or, as in this case, did not work.

It is obviously unsatisfactory that workers at the Miza plant will receive only statutory redundancy payments following its closure. The liquidation is happening against a background of massive debt and there are no funds available for redundancy payments. The level of statutory redundancy is far too low in general – not just in the context of these jobs – and it means that people who have worked in the plant for a considerable period will get a payment which is far less than they need or deserve. There have been other closures in north Tipperary and Roscrea and the prospect of replacing those jobs is slim to say the least. People are going to find it difficult to find alternative employment, at least in the immediate area, which raises a major question of unfairness. I ask the Minister of State to indicate when those statutory payments are likely to be made and urge that they be made as soon as possible because people need this support.