Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 133: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will confirm that she has applied for funding under the EU Globalisation Fund in order to support the retraining of workers losing their jobs in a company (details supplied) and other ancillary companies in the Limerick area; the estimated timeframe for a decision; the amount of money which might be advanced under this fund for this purpose; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6168/09]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Funding is available from the European Globalisation Fund (EGF) for the retraining of workers in EU Member States made redundant as a result of changing global trade patterns. Currently, a minimum threshold of at least 1,000 redundancies applies for a given enterprise and its suppliers. This threshold must be reached within a four months period. If redundancies occur in a particular industrial sector, the 1,000 threshold has to be realised within a nine months period. In order for an application for assistance from the EGF to be eligible, formal notification of redundancies must issue from the company concerned to the individual workers affected.

As regards the 1,900 redundancies recently announced by DELL at its Limerick plant, no formal notification of redundancies has yet issued to the employees in question. Accordingly, no application for assistance from the EGF can be advanced at this time in respect of DELL or those that arise as a consequence of the DELL situation. Once redundancy notices have been sent to the individuals concerned, and other eligibility criteria have been met, a period of ten weeks is available within which an application to the EGF can be made. That application will then be made without any delay.

Up to €500m is available from the EGF annually and there is no minimum or maximum amount of funding that a Member State can seek. That is dependent on the particular circumstances that apply in any given case.