Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The news that SR Technics is to close with the loss of approximately 1,200 permanent jobs is a shocking blow to the workers involved and their families. Many have given a lifetime's work to this company in all its guises from Aer Lingus to Team Aer Lingus to FLS to SR Technics. I know many of the workers personally and over the years they have provided a lot of change and sacrificed many pay rounds to keep the company competitive and among the most successful in the aeronautics industry.

The notice period of only 30 days for workers who have given so much service and commitment is shameful. Like many of the workers, I believe that something should have been done at an earlier stage by the Government and State agencies to try to save as many jobs as possible. This did not just creep up; there were many signs during the past couple of years of pending problems. The decision by Aer Lingus to pull contracts from SR Technics was significant. The proposed closure of the company is a knock-on effect of the mistaken decision by the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrats Government to privatise Aer Lingus. I understand that the cost savings sought by Aer Lingus through allocation of contracts to Sabena Technics in France have not been realised, with reported ongoing delays in planes being turned around. Time is money in this business. I would like to see the figures in this regard.

When I heard that the chief executive of the company met the Tánaiste on Wednesday night and that meetings with the unions and the general body of workers were planned for Thursday morning, I feared the worst. However, many workers interviewed by RTE when going to work on Thursday morning seemed more optimistic. While many thought redundancies or pay cuts might be on the cards no one, according to a constituent who attended my clinic on Saturday morning, expected closure. Unfortunately, the news turned out to be as bad as it could be and the loss of 1,135 jobs was announced. A short ten minute statement was made to that effect and no opportunity was given to ask questions.

The unilateral decision of the company, taken without any consultation with the workers and their unions, to close the company with the loss of so many highly skilled jobs, will affect not only the families of those involved but the economy of north and west Dublin and the nation as a whole at a time when jobs are haemorrhaging at a phenomenal rate. Dublin Airport is the economic dynamo of the northside of Dublin and further afield and the loss of this number of jobs will be a massive body blow.

It was reported in the media that the Tánaiste met SR Technics senior management on the Wednesday evening. Perhaps the Minister of State will say whether she had been in discussion with the company before then. When job losses at Dell were announced, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea, were prepared to go to great lengths to save jobs at that company, travelling to Texas at a cost of €164,000. There appears not to have been any comparable urgency to try to save jobs at SR Technics. Why is this? Is it that jobs in Dublin Airport are less important than jobs in Dell? In terms of scale, the loss at SR Technics is approximately 60% of those lost at Dell. What efforts did the Tánaiste make to have the announcement postponed to allow for engagement with the workforce to see if anything could be done to reduce costs and save the jobs?

Aer Lingus recently agreed to engage with its unions and successfully came up with cost saving measures which gave the company the savings it required. Why could SR Technics not engage with its workforce in a similar fashion? I would appreciate a response from the Minister of State in regard to whether the Tánaiste proposed that the company be sold. Now that the loss of jobs has been announced, what steps does the Tánaiste intend to take to bring pressure to bear on the company to engage with the workforce to save jobs? Does she intend to up her game and join the workforce in their efforts to fight for the survival of the operation in Ireland? Every effort must be made, even at this late stage, to come up with a survival plan.

If this closure goes ahead, the industry will be lost forever and a day and replacement jobs will not be easily found for the highly skilled technical workers employed at Dublin Airport. The Government must now enter into discussions with all the Dublin Airport stakeholders, the Dublin Airport Authority, Aer Lingus, Ryanair and SR Technics, to consider how these jobs can be saved given the ongoing need for aircraft maintenance, the skills of the employees and the fact that Dublin is the service provider of choice for several customers, including SAS. The Easijet business is going to Zurich, which is more expensive than Dublin. Dublin Airport Authority owns the buildings concerned on which rental or lease income could be foregone for a period. Creative measures such as this are required and are capable of being arrived at.

The cost to the State of each job lost has been estimated at €20,000 per annum. The cost per annum in respect of these 1,135 job losses will be €2.27 million. The Tánaiste must engage in an urgent and meaningful way to save these jobs. The workforce of SR Technics is highly skilled and highly flexible and must be supported.