I would like to share my time with Deputy Allen.
Adjournment Debate. - Threatened Closure of Cork Plant.
Is that satisfactory? Agreed.
I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this important matter which is of serious concern to the workers at the Aurion plant and to the whole population of Cork city. The latest unemployment figures for Cork city and county are at an all time high of over 30,000. Nearly 17,000 of those are in the Cork city area and a large percentage of these are on the north side of Cork, an area that has been devastated by closures, redundancies and short-time working. The news that yet another closure was imminent last weekend was a body blow to the whole area, particularly to the 140 strong workforce in the Aurion plant at Kilbarry Industrial Estate. This news was particularly bad when one takes into consideration the fact that a highly skilled management and workforce are making an excellent product, but due to circumstances beyond their control will lose their jobs in a few weeks time.
How much more can Cork city take, particularly the north side? In the last 12 months there have been well over 1,000 job losses in the north side alone. The area is devastated. The Minister for Industry and Commerce, Ministers of State and other Government Deputies have an obligation to take whatever steps are necessary to stop this haemorrhage of jobs so that this firm, which is less than three years old and which has an excellent record, can be saved; or, as a last resort that a replacement industry should be found to save the badly needed 140 jobs in a city already shattered by record job losses.
I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for giving me two and a half minutes of his time. It is becoming monotonous to come into the House to deal with job losses in Cork. It is also becoming tragic. Just three weeks ago we came in here and spoke about the potential job losses in Apple. Some of us were accused of being alarmist, but the jobs there are still under threat. On top of that, 140 jobs will definitely go in Dublin Hill in the Kilbarry Estate. This news came at the start of a holiday weekend when the workers were unexpectedly told that their jobs would go within four weeks.
In parts of my constituency we already have 70 per cent unemployment. How much more can we take? It is ironic that on the morning on which the job losses were announced, the Minister for Finance was reported in The Cork Examiner as saying that there is no recession in this country. There may not be a recession for some people but the people depending on jobs and those depending on social welfare are struggling for life. People cannot exist without jobs. There is no hope. The further job losses in Aurion in Dublin Hill brings things to a crisis.
I had hoped that the Minister for Industry and Commerce would be here tonight, but the Progressive Democrat Minister seems to distance himself from job losses at all times. What steps have been taken to ensure that the jobs can be preserved in Cork? Why do the jobs have to be transferred from Cork to Dublin? What amount of taxpayer's money has been invested by way of grants in this industry and how is taxpayer's money safeguarded by the IDA? What repayment will be made by the industry?
One hundred and forty jobs may be just a number but it represents 140 families which will have to survive without jobs and there is no hope for them except the dole queues. The Taoiseach today in the House talked about the Jobs Forum and about the interdepartmental committee which is looking at the factors affecting job creation; but attention is not being paid to the haemorrhage of jobs in this country, especially in Cork city, over the last number of months. I would ask not for lipservice in the House tonight but for real answers from the Minister to a horrendous crisis in our city.
Deputies O'Sullivan and Allen, together with Deputies Quill and Wallace, have made great efforts to bring to the attention of the IDA and the other relevant authorities the problem facing the north side of Cork city in the light of what happened in the past number of weeks and also over the weekend. It is important to put the facts before the House and not sensationalise what has happened, as Deputy Allen has been doing by not speaking factually in the last few minutes. Aurion Limited was set up in 1990 to manufacture cable harness on a sub-contract basis for a Dublin based customer. The customer company have now indicated that they intend to take this subcontract work back in-house and that they will be phasing out their orders from Aurion Limited. The Aurion management, in conjunction with the IDA, have discussed the situation with the customer company and they sought a commitment to retain one production line in Cork for one year in order to give the Aurion company breathing space to obtain new business. Unfortunately, these discussions were unsuccessful and the result will be the complete closure of Aurion Limited on 26 June.
There is no sensationalising.
The customer company's decision is no reflection on the quality or competence of Aurion Limited. It is a recognised commercial reality that enterprises operating in a highly competitive environment have to continuously review their operational strategies, including their sourcing arrangements. In this particular case such a strategic review led to a corporate decision by the customer company's overseas parent that a certain retrenchment was necessary in order to secure the viability of a sister company within the corporate group. Regrettably, in this instance the Irish sub-supplier was the victim of this business decision.
The experience of Aurion underlines the vulnerability of companies who are solely dependent on a single customer to purchase their output. Aurion had been aware of this potential vulnerability in their operations. It had always been the intention of Aurion to broaden their base long before the present situation arose. A number of possibilities both at home and abroad had been looked at but no commitments had been entered into.
The management of Aurion Limited, in conjunction with the IDA, are currently investigating a number of possibilities which it is hoped will lead to firm business opportunities in the future. These investigations are ongoing, but no immediate outcome which will save the 140 jobs in question is likely.