Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 264: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding the closure of a plant (details supplied) in County Cork; if all funds that are due to be repaid have been repaid to the State and its agencies by this company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22825/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The company in question went into examinership in November 2008 and into liquidation a few weeks later in December 2008. Following receipt of a letter from the liquidators of the company in question, stating that no funds were available, Enterprise Ireland issued a claim to the guarantor of the grants and equity. The agency continued to pursue the recovery of funds due from the guarantor and the State has since received repayment in full in respect of all amounts owing to Enterprise Ireland. There are no other repayments due.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The recent announcement by Vodafone Ireland to offshore 139 jobs from its Irish call centres is part of a review of the company's European operations, which will also impact on its operations in other EU Member States. Vodafone state that in the current market environment cost efficiencies are a prerequisite so as to ensure their continued ability to compete in the Irish market where they employ over 1,000 people.

The announcement will impact 45 Vodafone roles and 139 in Rigney Dolphin, Vodafone's Irish call centre contract partner. The 139 staff are employed by Rigney Dolphin but are in-sourced to Vodafone and are based at its sites in Dublin and Dundalk. Rigney Dolphin have given assurances to the Minister that they will work through the implications of the redundancies with their employees.

All impacted Vodafone employees will be offered the opportunity to transfer to alternative roles within Vodafone Ireland, and voluntary redundancy packages will be offered. A consultation process is now underway with all Vodafone employees affected by the decision to finalise the alternatives available. The changes to Vodafone Call Centre operations will take place in late 2011 and early 2012.

I recently met with representatives from the company. Vodafone sees Ireland as an important strategic country and says it is committed to Ireland for the long-term. Vodafone's restructuring of its Irish operations was necessary for the company to continue operating in the Irish market, and to ensure future investment by the company in its Irish operations. This investment is vital for maintaining up-to-date infrastructure to meet the service demands.

Job creation is central to economic recovery and the Programme for Government has job creation at its core. The role of my Department is to ensure that we have the right policies in place that will support and grow our enterprise base in order to facilitate both job creation and job retention. Enhancing our competitiveness and getting our cost base back into line with key competitors will be vital. Enhancing productivity through innovation and research is also critical. The programmes supported by my Department and its agencies are focused on achieving economic growth through promoting the export potential of enterprise in Ireland and driving sustainable job creation.