Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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450. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an application will be made to the Globalisation Fund in respect of a facility closure (details supplied) in County Monaghan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17273/15]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Strict criteria are prescribed for the making of applications seeking a co-funding contribution towards the cost of a programme of personalised guidance, education, training, labour market activation and enterprise supports for workers made redundant by the adverse impacts of globalisation under Regulation (EU) No. 1309/2013 which governs the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) 2014 - 2020.

A key criterion of the Fund is that there are at least 500 redundancies effected before an application can be made. The number of redundancies scheduled at this facility is understood to be in the region of 140 persons. A derogation is provided for under Article 4(2) of the Regulation for cases where exceptional circumstances pertain including where the 500 redundancies requirement is not met. However, a particularly robust and demonstrable case must be made to the EU budgetary authorities as to the exceptional circumstances pertaining including in terms of the serious impact on employment and the local, regional or national economy, such as would pass scrutiny with those authorities.

The Department has to date successfully made and had approved nine EGF applications since 2009. The EGF Managing Authority in the Department has successfully used the Article 4(2) provision in the submission of the two most recent applications, in support of 171 workers made redundant at the Andersen Ireland jewellery manufacturing plant in Rathkeale, Co. Limerick and 424 workers made redundant at the Lufthansa Technik Airmotive Ireland aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. In these cases, we were able to produce robust and demonstrable data proving serious economic and labour market impacts that was accepted by the EU authorities.

However, having analysed the relevant factors and criteria in this case, officials from the EGF Managing Authority in the Department are of the view, based on the current information available in terms of justifying exceptional circumstances and impacts and given the low number of redundancies pertaining in strictly EGF terms, that a sustainable case under Article 4(2) cannot justifiably be made to the EU for a co-funding contribution under the EG. This is because the indicators used do not suggest that the redundancies in question are an exceptional event in the context of the local or regional economic or labour market environments.

As such, the Department has no proposals to make such an application at this time.