I would like to thank you for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I would like to give a few minutes of my time to my colleague, Deputy Foley. I am raising this matter on the Adjournment because of the proposed closure of the Wabco-Westinghouse factory in Tralee. This factory manufacture signalling equipment for CIE and there are 61 people employed in that factory which gives very much needed employment in Tralee. Those workers got one month's protective notice two weeks ago and they are very worried about the possibility that they may lose their jobs. The reason that this protective notice was given was that the factory have not got an order from CIE to make signalling equipment for next year. Portion of the CIE signalling equipment on the mainlines has been replaced every year and all this equipment had been supplied by the Wabco factory.
The Wabco factory are put in great difficulty because CIE have not given an order to them for next year and this possibly will mean that the factory will close down some time in the New Year with the loss of 61 jobs. I ask the Minister for Industry and Energy and the Minister for Transport to save this factory for Tralee and ensure that those 61 jobs are maintained. The Government will be giving a subvention of probably £96 million to CIE this year. The Minister for Industry and Energy and the Minister for Transport could save this factory if they insisted that £1 million or possibly £1,500,000 of the subvention was allocated for signalling. If they did this the Wabco factory would be saved.
Most of the CIE signalling equipment on the mainlines is obsolete and is not adequate. My information is that this equipment from Dublin to Cork needs replacement. It is not too long since we had a few rail crashes. After the one at Buttevant there was a public inquiry. The findings of this inquiry stated that the signalling equipment was not up to standard so it is very important that the signalling equipment on all the mainlines is replaced. If CIE are to attract passengers back they must have a modern rail system equipped with the proper signalling equipment, so CIE will have to bring up their signalling equipment to international standards. It is very important that we have a factory like Wabco to make the signalling equipment which will be required by CIE. This is the only factory in Ireland which makes this type of equipment so it is up to the Minister for Industry and Energy and the Minister for Transport to rescue this factory. If they do not do this the signalling equipment which CIE will need in the future will have to be imported. This will mean 61 more people in Tralee on the dole.
The Wabco factory have submitted to CIE proposals for air conditioning equipment which CIE instal in the new railway carriages they are manufacturing. That equipment which is being imported at the moment could be made by Wabco. No extra machinery is required to make this type of equipment. The Minister should investigate that and have the order given to Wabco. This would ensure that the factory would not close.
Tralee has suffered a great deal from factory closures in recent times, the most recent one being the Kingdom Tubes factory, which closed down with a loss of 295 jobs. Very little was done by the Government to rescue this factory. We also had the Burlington textile factory in Tralee who at one time employed 940 people and now employ fewer than 400. The number unemployed in Tralee and the surrounding areas is the highest in the country. Tralee and North Kerry were declared a disaster area by the IDA some time ago. In the past the industrialisation of Kerry was controlled from Cork but Kerry needed industry so much that the IDA decided to send one of their personnel permanently to Tralee. The factory management and workers got in touch with the Minister for the Environment last June. I saw a copy of the reply they received from him on 6 July acknowledging their representations but to date they have not received any further correspondence from the Minister for the Environment.
It is no harm to point out that Deputy Spring represents this constituency and there is a duty on him to work to ensure that the factory is kept open. We were hopeful in North Kerry that Deputy Spring might succeed in having the Kingdom Tubes factory re-opened but that did not materialise and there was great disappointment throughout the constituency. I should like to appeal to the Ministers for Industry and Energy and Transport to ensure that CIE make a special allocation next year to be used for the purchase of equipment from that factory. I suggest that they allocate £1 million from the Government subvention for the purchase of such equipment. The management of the Tralee factory told me that if they got £1 million from CIE the factory would be viable. That factory also make signalling equipment for Northern Ireland.
There is a duty on those Ministers and on the Tánaiste, Deputy Spring, to ensure that CIE make money available to modernise the signalling equipment on the main rail lines. If CIE are to make money they must modernise that system. It is no harm to point out that there is a need for new equipment on the Dublin-Cork line. Action must be taken now to ensure that the 61 jobs in that factory are saved. Signalling equipment should not be imported. I understand that IDA executives travel around the world trying to encourage industrialists to establish factories here but in Tralee we have an industry which, if it was guaranteed £1 million from CIE annually, would be viable and maintain 61 jobs. The factory is most important for Tralee, a town which has had massive unemployment in recent years. I appeal to all concerned to take all steps necessary to ensure that the factory is kept open. I hope the Tánaiste, Deputy Spring, will lend a hand to the efforts being made to do this.