I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment, Deputy Brennan, for coming into the House to reply to this debate. I would like to share my time with Deputy Mulvihill.
It gives me no joy to raise this matter this evening. Dennison Ireland Ltd., have had a plant in Youghal for some time and employ a total of 110 people. There are two manufacturing plants, one of which manufactures discs and the other plastic documentation folders. The parent company is Avery Dennison Corporation which came into existence in 1990 as the result of a merger between Avery International and Dennison Manufacturing Inc. Since then many decisions have been taken which were definitely not in favour of the company. Twelve months ago when the disc plant was running at full capacity the then managing director sought investment of £250,000 by the parent company. I am asking the IDA here this evening, through the good offices of the Minister, to ensure that this capital investment is made in the company.
Youghal has suffered severely because of the economic decline over the years. It is a seaside and manufacturing town with textiles as its base industry. At present 1,045 people are claiming unemployment benefit. This is too high a number and the last thing we need is to add to this figure.
Dennison Ireland Ltd., is a competitive and efficient plant. Last year it had a turnover of £10 million. However, this Friday 16 people are being made redundant, 35 are being placed on short time and others are being encouraged to take leave of absence. It seems quite clear that every effort is being made to wind the plant down with an overall loss of over 100 jobs. This would be a tragedy for the seaside town.
It also seems that every effort is being made to transfer the business of the Youghal plant to its sister plant in Troyes in France despite the fact that the Youghal plant is the more profitable. It is clear that there has been a lamentable lack of consultation between management and the workforce and the parent company abroad.
It would be a tremendous loss for Youghal if this factory closed. It would also be a huge loss in terms of IDA and training grants and low taxes for the past 12 years. I urge the Minister to take every possible action to ensure that these jobs are saved. I also call on the relevant State agencies, including the local representatives of the IDA, to take any action necessary. Part and parcel of this is the opening up of negotiations between the Youghal plant and the parent company Avery Dennison.
No investment has been made in the past 12 months. The arrival of a new manufacturing unit assigned from France has been awaited. It is sad that there has been no change of heart on the part of the French parent company. Youghal's loss will be France's gain. For a small investment we could secure the future of the company in this very important town that has suffered economic decline.
There is no joy in talking about job losses tonight. I thought there had been an upturn in our economy, that it was on the way to success with growth rates of 2 per cent. That does not seem to be the case although interest rates were never as attractive. There is a lack of investment to allow the French company to continue. It is winding down and that is sad.
