Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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87. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on any engagement that he or his Department have had with the stakeholders affected by the job losses at a company (details supplied) in County Sligo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18755/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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On 27 January, B.Braun announced its decision to wind up operations at their Collooney site in Sligo. The company said that it made this decision because it found it difficult to continue to scale its specific manufacturing operations in Ireland to remain competitive. IDA Ireland, worked closely with B.Braun to try to find a solution. Unfortunately, a solution could not be found, and the company made the decision to move a significant portion of its operations to third parties.

I understand the planned closure of B.Braun will take place in a phased manner and the first redundancies will not take effect until the end of 2022. In anticipation of this timeline, a series of initiatives are already underway. My Department through IDA Ireland activated the Job Loss Protocol which is a co-ordinated response plan implemented by an interagency group based in the region. The group consists of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Department of Social Protection, Local Enterprise Office, North West Regional Skills, Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education Training Board and IT Sligo.

An introductory meeting has taken place with B.Braun and representatives from the Department of Social Protection. Department officials outlined the variety of supports available to the company and affected employees in the short, medium and long term.

It is my understanding that B.Braun has also engaged with the North West Regional Skills Manager and Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education Training Board to discuss potential upskilling and reskilling opportunities. The company has been introduced to the Local Enterprise Office to help it get a better understanding of the supports available to employees.

IDA Ireland continues to market the available lands on the IDA business & technology park and Oakfield site in Sligo to potential investors. The creation of a talent profile of the site is currently underway which will be included to help market the site to new investors. It is important to note that Ireland is competing globally for investment and all local stakeholders have an important role to play in making Co. Sligo and the Border region as attractive as possible to investors.