Denis Landy (Labour)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann:

- notes with grave concern the recent closure of the TalkTalk call centre in Waterford, with the consequent devastating loss of 575 jobs;

- notes with concern the reports that further collective job losses at other companies may be likely;

- deplores the fact that the employees of TalkTalk were given only 30 days' notice of the closure of the call centre;

- notes that the State has provided significant financial incentives to companies like TalkTalk which establish in the State;

- commends the Government for the introduction of job creation initiatives like JobBridge, and commends further the work being done by Ministers, Government agencies and others to stimulate job creation and to protect existing jobs in Ireland;

- notes the different protections which exist for employees in collective redundancy situations under both national and EU law;

- proposes that greater protections be put in place for employees facing collective redundancy situations; and

proposes the Government review existing legislation to consider that a longer notice period than 30 days should be provided by a company, particularly where a company employing significant numbers of people, is proposing to make redundancies on a collective scale.

I welcome the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and thank him for taking time to come to the House to discuss this important motion. The closure of the TalkTalk company came as a massive blow to everyone, especially those living in the south east. The suddenness of the announcement took us by surprise and it was clear from the Minister's statements on the issue that neither he, his Department, IDA Ireland or any of the local agencies had any inkling that the closure of the company was imminent. In addition to the loss of 575 jobs, a large number of jobs have been lost across the south east, from counties Kilkenny and Wexford to south Tipperary. In my area of Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel, 120 jobs have been lost.

The closure of TalkTalk was a shock to the system, particularly for the company's workers who were in gainful employment and working hard in extremely difficult conditions. Having accepted new productivity arrangements at least three times in recent years, it was ironic and sickening to note that while senior management prepared the announcement of the closure behind the scenes, arrangements were being made for 100 staff to attend a party in England to celebrate the company. The party was held the weekend after it was announced that the company's offices in Waterford would close.

A large number of jobs - probably close to the number lost in TalkTalk - will be lost in ancillary employment in the region as a result of the closure. I compliment the Government on its quick response to the announcement. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation visited Waterford and met the workforce within days. The Minister also established a task force which will report to him by the end of September. I look forward to the task force report and will discuss in a moment the elements I believe it should include. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, put in place all the services required by staff, including access to the money advice and budgeting service, FÁS and social welfare payments. Former TalkTalk staff will be advised of their social welfare entitlements in the medium term and retrained and upskilled. We need a more comprehensive response, however, one which will pave the way for the future of Waterford and the south east.

As the Minister will be aware, the upgrading to university status of Waterford Institute of Technology is a major issue in the region. I am pleased to note the Higher Education Authority hopes to sign off on formal advice to the Minister on this issue and that he hopes to publish the relevant criteria before the end of December. One positive development arising from the closure of TalkTalk is that it has placed centre stage the possibility of having a technological university for the south east.

An in-depth analysis is required for the entire south-east region which lags behind the rest of the country in terms of inward investment and IDA Ireland promoted jobs. The unemployment rate, at 20%, is the highest of any region. IDA Ireland supported jobs need to be dispersed around the south east. Ten years ago IDA Ireland closed its Waterford office, which was its headquarters for the south east, and transferred it to Cork. While some IDA Ireland staff remain in Waterford, the city is no longer a headquarters for the agency. Until ten years ago, the south east was treated on a par with the rest of the country but appears to have been on a downward spiral since then. I ask the Minister to comment.

We must develop indigenous industries in the south east. The region has a fantastic opportunity to develop its agricultural sector as it has the best beef and dairy land in the country. We are not making enough of this opportunity, as demonstrated by the closure of Waterford Creamery in Dungarvan. We need to refocus on the agricultural sector.

The Minister, in his efforts to improve employment in the south east, should also focus on education. We in south Tipperary had the pleasure of hosting the Taoiseach last Thursday when he opened an extension of the Merck Sharp & Dohme facility resulting in the creation of 70 new jobs in research and development. If one was to scope the number of local people employed in the new facility, one would find it is very low. We must ensure second level education gears people to take up jobs in their own areas by pushing the subjects in which they require competence and ensuring students attend university and acquire qualifications with a view to gaining employment in their local areas. The brain drain from the south east is noticeable. In the case of Merck Sharp & Dohme, for instance, only a small number of local people are employed in the new facility.

Call centre businesses are moving out of Ireland, which is a cause of major concern. Clonmel has an indigenous call centre company, Intellicom, which employs approximately 125 people. Providing support to these types of businesses is arguably more worthwhile than supporting outside businesses locating here because the former are unlikely to leave the country when grant supports are no longer available. External companies may also leave to employ workers at lower wage levels elsewhere in the world. We should encourage indigenous companies more.

The motion refers to increasing the redundancy notice period to workers from the current 30 days as provided for under the Protection of Employment Act 1977. The notice period should be increased to 60 days, as provided for under a 1998 EU directive. Across the water, the notice period for staff is 90 days. I have heard the argument, attributed in part to the Minister although I have not seen as much in writing, that IDA Ireland has expressed concern that increasing the term of redundancy notice time to staff would be a deterrent for new industry to come to the country. I compliment the IDA on its work. We had a report on the amount of business that has come to the country in recent months, which is very encouraging. However, I cannot and do not accept the argument that if a new company is being brought in and faces a requirement to give 60 days' notice then, even if everything else fits into place, the company will choose not to come here as a result of that provision. That does not stand up. I would like to hear the Minister's comments on that.

Another matter we must address in regard to these workers is the utilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund. We need to maximise the opportunities afforded by it. There have already been some experiences with the fund in the cases of Dell, Waterford Crystal and SR Technics that we did not handle very well. We left money behind because the criteria for drawing it down were too tight and staff could not avail of it. We did not interpret those criteria as broadly as did countries such as Spain and Germany which have been more successful in using this fund. I understand it must be applied to within one month of a company closure. Best practice across Europe in this regard should be examined. We have the goodwill of the EU Commissioner with responsibility for employment, social affairs and inclusion, László Andor, who was very supportive of an application on our part, and has stated so publicly. We should use the time available to put together a very broad application for this funding.

There is one further small matter which is a severe bugbear to the staff who work in TalkTalk. They were employed on both a basic wage and a commission basis. The commission in general was based at €30 per hour. In the redundancy package, however, the bonus commission is being calculated at €10 per hour. This is very mean-minded on the part of the company. The Minister might address this via his Department.

One might ask what good an extra 30 days would be for workers. First, it would give them an opportunity to accept the situation over a longer period and help them to put in place their financial arrangements, work with outsource services and allow them to get new job applications and CVs ready. It would also help them to digest their new situation as it relates to social welfare. It would give the business an opportunity to be sold as a going concern. I refer to an instance where all that I mention has actually happened. When Johnson & Johnson in Cashel announced its closure plans these were done on a staged basis. The minimum notice given was approximately two months to ten weeks. Some 50 of the staff have already secured employment in Abbott Vascular in Clonmel through work done by Johnson & Johnson with an outsource company. That is proof positive of the benefit of giving extra time to staff who are to be made redundant. I ask the Minister to consider this motion and respond positively to our request.