Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Jun 1993

Vol. 432 No. 6

Written Answers. - Employment Protection Unit.

Paul Connaughton

Question:

21 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the work that the Employment Protection Unit will be doing in technology, work practices and markets as outlined in his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 20 of 18 May 1993; the extent to which this work is already being carried out in his Department and in the Industrial Development Authority; and the extent to which the Employment Protection Unit will be carrying out work that is not already being conducted in the Public Service.

Seymour Crawford

Question:

41 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the work that the Employment Protection Unit will be doing in technology, work practices and markets as outlined in his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 20 of 18 May 1993; the extent to which this work is already being carried out in his Department and in the Industrial Development Authority; and the extent to which the Employment Protection Unit will be carrying out work that is not already being conducted in the Public Service.

Donal Carey

Question:

46 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the work that the Employment Protection Unit will be doing in technology, work practices and markets as outlined in his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 20 of 18 May 1993; the extent to which this work is already being carried out in his Department and in the Industrial Development Authority; and the extent to which the Employment Protection Unit will be carrying out work that is not already being conducted in the Public Service.

Seán Barrett

Question:

65 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the work that the Employment Protection Unit will be doing in technology, work practices and markets as outlined in his reply to Parliamentary Question Number 20 of 18 May 1993; the extent to which this work is already being carried out in his Department and in the Industrial Development Authority; and the extent to which the Employment Protection Unit will be carrying out work that is not already being conducted in the Public Service.

Andrew Boylan

Question:

78 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the work that the Employment Protection Unit will be doing in technology, work practices and markets as outlined in his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 20 of 18 May 1993; the extent to which this work is already being carried out in his Department and in the Industrial Development Authority; and the extent to which the Employment Protection Unit will be carrying out work that is not already being conducted in the Public Service.

John Bruton

Question:

117 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the work that the Employment Protection Unit will be doing in technology, work practices and markets as outlined in his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 20 of 18 May 1993; the extent to which this work is already being carried out in his Department and in the Industrial Development Authority; and the extent to which the Employment Protection Unit will be carrying out work that is not already being conducted in the Public Service.

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. Quinn)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 21, 41, 46, 65, 78 and 117 together.

As I indicated in reply to previous questions on this matter on 18 May, the remit of the Employment Protection Unit will be broader than that of operating an early warning system in respect of firms experiencing difficulties. The intention is, as envisaged in the Programme for a Partnership Government, to provide an advisory support service to facilitate the advancement of progressive small companies and to assist companies to surmount marketing, technical, etc., problems or difficulties that may be retarding their progress.

In its initial phase, the Employment Protection Unit will be involved in assisting companies experiencing difficulties. Experience would suggest that a company's current difficulties may be the culmination of a period of decline resulting from management failure to adapt products and processes to changing market and technological conditions. The role of the Employment Protection Unit in such cases will be to determine whether a company's decline can be reversed and whether the company can be put back on a sound footing with the support of the Unit. However, I would envisage that, beyond the initial fire-brigade phase of activity, the role of the Employment Protection Unit would become progressively more developmental in character in making proposals and recommending initiatives to assist and facilitate well-managed companies to develop long term growth planning based on the identification of market opportunities and the upgrading of products, processes and workforce skills. Following on from its role in facilitating the development of individual companies in particular sub-sectors of industry, the Unit would be in a key position to advise the Department on appropriate strategies to be pursued in the development of industrial sectors and to identify appropriate State support mechanisms to facilitate sectoral development.