Seanad debates
Wednesday, 14 May 2003
Redundancy Payments Bill 2003: Second Stage.
Was the Minister aware of the Attorney General's advice when she met the Kilkenny workers and allegedly gave them an undertaking? She must have been aware of it. She made the statements in question, which appeared to indicate strong support for the workers in their tragic loss, to get out of a difficult position. Closures are always very traumatic for the workers affected. In fairness, at the time of the AT Cross closure in Ballinasloe, I was present when the Minister indicated she would make available whatever resources and agencies were necessary to help the workers in the company get over the traumatic position in which they found themselves by helping them to apply for redundancy and retraining. She promised to call in additional resources from FÁS for a retraining programme, which was difficult to understand given that most of the community employment schemes in the county were being severely cut at the time. No such structures have been put in place since. Why?
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