Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

We all join in welcoming the deputy mayor. I commend the motion before the House. I am a resident of Waterford. We had a similar debate in this House on 14 September. There is no doubt that the latest situation in TalkTalk is deplorable. More than 575 workers and the people who service those workers such as cleaners, caterers and others have been treated in an appalling way. It is an absolute disgrace. I hope the Government will take the necessary steps to ensure that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated from any company operating in the country.

We need to look at the terms of reference for Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. We must look at State grants vis-À-vis indigenous industry and foreign direct investment. I know a company that is in a similar situation to TalkTalk. TalkTalk and AOL before it received millions of euro in grant aid from the IDA and the indigenous Irish company which set up in the same period and employed as many people received approximately €400,000 in grants from Enterprise Ireland. That is not a level playing field. This should not happen in this day and age. There is a need for a root and branch examination of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland on how they administer grants and how they operate to assist companies, not alone in Waterford but throughout the length and breath of the country. I have had e-mails from small and medium enterprises, indigenous Irish industries who have problems similar to the one I have mentioned. The issue will have to be addressed. We must support our indigenous industries. We need to attract foreign investment but the indigenous industries must operate on a level playing field with those coming in.

Reference was made to the globalisation fund which is a good fund. We must ensure the employees of TalkTalk avail of that fund. However, that is seven or eight months down the road for these unfortunate people who are made redundant. One has to go through the experience of being made redundant in order to realise what these people are going through. They are a young educated workforce, well capable of operating in many areas throughout the economy. I was made redundant in 1997. To look at a situation after 23 years and how one will access one's benefits and so on is a daunting task and not one I would wish anybody would go through. Perhaps things have improved significantly. When one is unemployed one is looking into a black hole and at a situation where one's earning capacity is quite good and, suddenly, one is going on to benefits. One wonders how one can pay one's mortgage and educate one's young children like many of the 575 workers in TalkTalk. Numbers mean nothing to these people. These are all individuals who are facing those problems. We need to have policies that will encourage innovation, which the Government is trying to do in its jobs initiative and in other areas.

Before I conclude, however, I must make reference to the local news in the Munster Express last week which suggested that "South East Silicon Valley" was mooted for the Waterford Crystal site. The Waterford Crystal site is adjacent to Waterford Institute of Technology and there is a suggestion that one of the colleges in Cambridge University intends linking up with WIT to form a university. The Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge has proposed a development which will be worth over €300 million. The Munster Express article goes on to state that it is estimated that over 420 permanent jobs could be created if this proposal goes ahead. It is based on an academic science park being developed in such areas, a model which has proven successful in Sweden and Brazil. The article also suggests that it is likely that the Government is already aware of the proposal given that one of the firms involved in the project finance is a London firm which regularly deals with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

Is the Minister aware of this project? What progress has been made on it? I know that is a difficult question to ask the Minister, especially when negotiations may or may not be going on in this regard. However, I hope the Minister would give some hope to the people of Waterford and the south east. As I outlined previously Waterford is the blackest spot in Ireland in regard to unemployment. We have a potential 20% unemployment rate in Waterford city. That is appalling, and the south east as a whole has an 18% unemployment rate. We must get our act together in the south east. I want to know from the Minister the progress that has been made in regard to the announcement he made when he came to Waterford on the task force but also in regard to gathering the necessary information to progress Waterford and the south east as a good place in which to do business, which is the case. We have a very positive chamber of commerce in Waterford. We have a very positive city manager and city council. They need to be helped to progress the projects they have in hand at this time. I invite the Minister to respond to those matters in a positive manner and, hopefully, we will have good job announcements into the future in Waterford and the south east.