Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I share his concerns following the recent developments in Bausch & Lomb initiated by the new owners of the company. I fully realise the exceptional pressures on workers and their families that stem from the restructuring proposals made by Bausch & Lomb. The company has provided significant numbers of jobs in Waterford for several decades for which it has been a valuable part of Waterford's industrial landscape. IDA Ireland has worked closely with it to help it to develop the plant in the city and seek to safeguard its future here. With IDA Ireland, I have been engaging with Bausch & Lomb for some time on recent developments in an effort to secure as many jobs as possible in Waterford. The company has stated its clear preference is to keep the Waterford plant open. I have been assured by it that it is seeking to introduce voluntary redundancies in the first instance. I am pleased to confirm that my Department and IDA Ireland are proposing substantial financial support for a major investment by the company to secure its future and position it for expansion in the event that restructuring is successful.

I met senior executives from SIPTU earlier today when we had a constructive discussion on all aspects of the difficulties. It is heartening that the discussions which commenced between the company and the unions in Waterford yesterday appear to be progressing in a satisfactory manner, although, of course, there are significant obstacles to be tackled. I urge both sides to engage constructively in discussions to secure the future of the plant and position it for future investment.

The Deputy has raised some other issues. In cases in which companies are facing difficult decisions there is an early warning system in place under which we seek to be alerted to difficulties such that IDA Ireland can work with them to try to maximise job protection. Clearly, such discussions cannot be held in public or made public knowledge for public representatives. Having said that, I can understand people wishing to know everything that is happening. By their nature, these discussions are confidential and we work with companies, especially publicly quoted companies such as Bausch & Lomb, while respecting that there must be confidentiality. It is essential that we be able to work with companies to maximise the protection of jobs. I realise this issue got into the media before the company had an opportunity to sit down with the workforce and can understand how people were upset by this. As always, our efforts involve working with many companies that have different difficulties to try to maximise job protection in all cases.

I accept what the Senator says about the challenges faced in the area. On my initiative we took steps to put a particular concentrated focus on the south east. That continues to be the case and we have recorded progress in some areas. Of course, further work remains to be done. As part of An Action Plan for Jobs 2014 we are committed to developing a regional enterprise framework for the south east. However, as is the case for all regions, we need to look more carefully at the potential to develop the regions and their competitive advantages. I am moving to create a framework whereby all stakeholders can have a meaningful role to play. I acknowledge that this is something we need to develop and that it has not really been a part of enterprise strategy in the past.