Deputy O'Sullivan was given permission to raise on the Adjournment the question of the loss of jobs at the Eagle Printing Company in Cork.
Adjournment Debate. - Cork Printing Works.
I regret having to raise this matter tonight to ask the Minister what steps he intends to take about it. I thought it would be my Cork colleague, the Minister for Labour, who would be taking this because I believe he had discussions with the two groups involved in this case. I welcome the Minister for Industry and Energy. I hope he has something good for the workforce in this particular firm.
This firm started originally as a family firm who, over the years, provided stable employment for the city of Cork. A large percentage of the work force never worked for any firm except the Eagle Printing Company. In 1981 this firm had a turnover of £2 million and had an after tax profit of £20,000. This was a family owned firm up to the early seventies, when a firm of business consultants were brought in to advise how the company could be updated and made more efficient. This proved very successful.
They brought in a gentleman who belonged to the company which reviewed the activities of this firm, and appointed him as manager in 1973. In 1975 they moved from the old city centre premises at Oliver Plunkett Street, which consisted of many small units, which was not conducive to efficiency, to the outskirts of the city, where they had no parking problems or problems in loading or unloading their trucks, which they had in the city centre. The move proved so successful that they succeeded in getting the second largest printing order in the country. They got the contract for printing for Gateaux Limited, Dublin. It is rather ironic that the people from whom they won this contract, their greatest opponents and the people who had been carrying out this work, were the Jefferson Smurfit Company.
In 1977 the Jefferson Smurfit Company indicated that they were interested in this particular firm and they bought 50 per cent of the shares. The full right of management went with that, and they would decide company policy. Since 1977, despite the fact that this company had massive profits, whose branches spread right across the world, they failed to inject further capital into the Eagle Printing Company and, as a result, the company found it difficult but succeeded in remaining viable and continued to show a profit.
There have been major advances in printing technology in recent years, but in the Eagle Printing Company part of the type-setting was still carried out by hand. Despite this, Eagle Printing Company continued to prosper. When the workforce were recently informed their services would no longer be required, it was a shock.
I intended to put this to the Minister for Labour yesterday but I was ruled out of order. The Jefferson Smurfit Company are reluctant to meet the union representatives of some of the work force to discuss severance pay and redundancy payments. I am more alarmed that the gentleman who is head of this printing combine is to be head of one of the semi-State bodies the House has been discussing for the past two days. Is this the type of industrial relations we will have in one of our new semi-State bodies, Bord Telecom Éireann?
There are 106 people who are now trying to find alternative employment in a city where there are almost 8,000 people unemployed. I doubt if some of them will get employment again unless some definite steps are taken by the Government. I ask the Minister if he would intervene and ensure that the voice of the workers is heard by the company concerned. That is of primary importance. They deserve a fair hearing and a just reward for their service through the years. The Eagle Printing Company have been part and parcel of Cork tradition and there is a market for their products.
Secondly, the skills of these craftsmen are second to none but they will have difficulty in finding alternative employment in their native city. At times we are very critical of Britain, but there a small firms fund was set up originally by the Labour Party which has been continued by the Conservative Party, enabling firms which go into liquidation or out of business, leading to redundancies, an opportunity to give their workers a new start. Could the Minister provide the necessary finance for those — I dare say not all — who would be interested in starting their own printing company? The famous order which the Eagle Printing Works won from the Jefferson Smurfit Company is being carried out outside this country, which is deplorable. Given the opportunity, some of the workers would be able to fill this void and apply themselves, as the workers at the Crannog factory did with grants from the IDA or an Foras Forbartha, to competing in the open market.
I ask the Minister to give serious consideration to these suggestions for which there are precedents. The people involved are from all levels of employment: administrators, craftsmen, general operatives and their average age is 46 years. A fair spread of skills is available. Were we to retrain this manpower source, it would cost quite a lot of money. Would the Minister intervene immediately and use his good offices to get the Jefferson Smurfit Company representatives to meet representatives of the unions which have not had that opportunity? Some of the unions have had discussions but craft unions, in particular, to date have not had the opportunity for consultation with the management and directors of this firm on severance pay and redundancy money.
The Minister should seriously consider trying to fund a co-operative effort in an attempt to give these people their rightful place in society and in the workforce, rather than on the dole queue, which is not very encouraging.
Deputy O'Sullivan has agreed to give the remainder of his time to Deputy Eileen Desmond, who has seven minutes.
I support the case made by my colleague, Deputy O'Sullivan, on behalf of the workers of the Eagle Printing Company of Cork. This is a traditional industry and we are speaking about people with long years of skilled service in the one company.
Cork, generally, is an area which has been very badly hit in recent years by the collapse of traditional companies which employ many members of a family for all their working lives. These people started work feeling secure in the knowledge that they would have good employment with good conditions but, due to competition, these companies went to the wall in recent times.
Cork was equally unfortunate with many new companies, subsidiaries of international companies, which raised the hopes of the people seeking employment but closed in many cases after a very short time, one or two years, leaving workers without the prospect of employment. There are now 8,000 unemployed in Cork and the average unemployment rate there is higher than the national average. We have always heard about the tremendous potential in Cork for long-term development, which to date has not taken place. It is vitally important to harness the skills now becoming available because of the problems with these companies. All the skills are there and the market is there. I ask that the skilled workers be given the assistance of the State in availing of this market.
We all give lip service to the idea of private enterprise and to the concept of small industries and self-help. Here are people who have been treated very badly and who are prepared to help themselves with a little assistance from the State. I join with my colleague in appealing to the Minister to take action to ensure that every facility be given to these redundant workers who do not want to be a drag on the State where unemployment benefits are concerned. They want to utilise their skills for the benefit of the State and the community. Regarding redundancy and severance pay, it was very high-handed of the Jefferson Smurfit Company not to have discussions with the workers, for whom 146 jobs have gone, about those vital issues. I do not have to illustrate the effects of this on their families. Unless they are helped to get alternative employment their future is very bleak indeed. They have a right to redundancy and severance pay and the company should be forced to enter into discussions with the unions representing them.
I appeal to the Minister and to his colleague, the Minister for Labour, to ensure immediate intervention by the Government on these issues. This has been another blow to a city which has been dealt many blows recently, where unemployment is soaring and one item of bad news is succeeded by another, week after week. Action by the Minister would be very welcome indeed to ensure that the workers will be treated as human beings with dignity and the respect which they deserve and that they will be helped to use collectively their skills in an alternative industry.
First, I share the concern of the two Deputies from Cork on the very quick closure of the Eagle Printing Company. I know Deputy O'Sullivan was surprised when he saw me coming in to take the Adjournment motion. I heard the Deputy raise this matter on the Order of Business today and I was struck by the phraseology he used when speaking of the Minister for Labour. I, too, have a responsibility in this matter. Deputy O'Sullivan has made a clear and fair case on behalf of the workers and he can be assured that I will have discussions with his fellow Cork Deputy, the Minister for Labour, on the many aspects raised by Deputy O'Sullivan.
It must be recognised clearly that primary responsibility for the well being of any enterprise rests with the owners and the management. It must also be recognised that a critical decision, such as one to liquidate a company voluntarily, is the responsibility of the shareholders alone. In such a situation there is no requirement that I or the IDA be notified in advance that liquidation is being contemplated. Nevertheless, in this case I would have expected the controlling interests, at least as a matter of courtesy, to have signalled to us some days in advance the decision that was pending, to me or to the IDA, but most important, to the workforce. In that way it might have been possible — I do not know if many possibilities existed — to have the business taken over as a going concern.
The first news my Department or the IDA had of the company's situation was when we read in the newspapers on 7 May that a liquidator had been appointed. Immediately on learning of the situation, the IDA took steps in conjunction with the liquidator to try to find a suitable person who might be prepared to acquire the assets and to continue printing. The IDA prepared a brochure in conjunction with the liquidator and had it very widely circulated in an effort to interest companies who had been identified as having a possible interest. These efforts are being maintained, but in the circumstances and bearing in mind the trading performance of the Eagle Printing Company in the past year or so, it must be recognised that the prospects of arranging a suitable takeover are not good.
I am bound to say, too, that in this case it appears to me that the workers concerned, by pressing their claims perhaps too vigorously, presented the company with a ready-made excuse to cease production. Far be it from me to suggest or imply that workers are not entitled to resort to industrial action in pursuit of their just claims. However, I would suggest that what happened in the case of this company suggests to me the need for workers to be restrained and measured when resorting to industrial action, and for companies who act with due consideration for workers and State agencies in the current economic climate.
I am familiar with the Eagle Company. Many years ago I was a customer of theirs for a few years and I am not unfamiliar with the quality of the work they produced. I accept the case made by Deputy O'Sullivan in relation to the crafts and skills there.
Two specific requests were made to me. One was to intervene to give an opportunity to the workforce to have their voices heard in this situation. As the Deputy knows, that is a matter for the Minister for Labour. I had a word with him before I came in this evening and he told me he had met the workers in his role as a constituency Deputy. I will tell him that apparently only some of them have been met so far and that Deputy O'Sullivan hopes that the rest of them will be given a similar opportunity.
The Minister for Labour has assured me that he will give serious consideration to this matter and that he will continue his efforts in the matters just referred to by Deputy O'Sullivan. Serious consideration will be given to providing an opportunity to the workforce to establish their own co-operative business. I will not have any hesitation about asking the IDA to explore all possibilities in this regard. Deputy O'Sullivan may not be as well aware as Deputy Desmond that printing is an industry in which there is a fair amount of over-capacity. It is one of the areas which the IDA stopped grant-aiding some time ago.
However, on the basis of what Deputy O'Sullivan has said, the exploration of all possibilities will be considered by me and the IDA. There may be some mix in the market which might be contacted to try to identify areas of the market which these workers could get into. I share the concern of the Cork Deputies about putting these workers back to work in a co-operative or in some other small business undertaking. That will have all the encouragement I can possibly give it.
I have referred to the difficulties in the printing industry and its capacity. Printing undertakings suffer very quickly in recession periods but can recover very quickly when the recession recedes. I will continue our efforts, in conjunction with the IDA, to get somebody to take over the assets. I understand the site is valuable and it might well be that if the workers were thinking of setting up some sort of business it might have to be in some smaller unit, such as an IDA advance factory or a cluster unit.
As I have said, I will not spare any efforts to do whatever I can for these workers. I do not wish to labour the point that we are in a difficult economic climate. Indeed, last week when I visited the US it became clear to me that the investment position there, because of the high unemployment that exists, which is the worst they have seen since 1938, plus high interest rates, is retarded and certain investment plans are being left aside. That is not to say that I will not continue all efforts in this matter. I will give way to Deputy O'Sullivan because I think he has another point to put.
The Minister referred to the pressing of claims too vigorously. I should like to emphasise that this is not peculiar to the Eagle Printing Company. The recent strike in Cork involved all printing houses in the city.
It was not isolated.
I wish to stress that point.
The Dáil adjourned at 10.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 24 June 1982.