Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise a breaking matter which is of great significance for people in both the Shannon and Limerick areas. Molex, a large employer that has been located in Shannon for over 48 years, announced today that it is looking to close its facility at the end of 2020, resulting in the loss of 500 jobs. This is of huge significance, particularly for the workers and their families. I am conscious that workers are currently being informed of this decision by Molex so I do not wish to go into it in detail. Suffice it to say that I met with the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, about the matter in the last half an hour. The Government first became aware of this late last night and the Minister had a discussion with the global CEO of Molex today. She is very concerned and is aware of the impact this could have, particularly on the 500 workers in Molex, their families, and the Shannon and Limerick regions.

Many of the people working in Molex live in Limerick city, which I represent, and I am conscious of the potential impact of this closure. Every effort must now be made to engage with Molex at a global level, and IDA Ireland should also engage with Molex to see whether new, alternative, creative jobs can be provided in the area with Molex. Molex is part and parcel of what Shannon and the region are about. It has been there since 1971, which is nearly 50 years. I am conscious of the impact of this breaking news on the families involved. The key thing is that the Minister is engaging with the company and with IDA Ireland. It is a very difficult time for Molex staff and workers in Shannon. Every effort must be made by IDA Ireland to engage with Molex to see whether it can provide alternative jobs in Shannon. I will continue to bring this up with the Minister, the Government and IDA Ireland to ensure we get a proper resolution for the staff. This is a shock for the staff and people in the region. I want to put on the record that the Government is very supportive of what those people are currently going through and direct engagement is happening at the highest level between the Minister, the CEO of Molex and IDA Ireland. Every effort will now be made to ensure that alternative jobs can be provided, ideally with Molex in other areas, and that the interests of the workers are represented. This is a huge blow for the region and the Government is looking to ensure it is addressed in the best possible way, in the interests of workers, their jobs and their families.