I thank you for affording me an opportunity to raise the problems currently being experienced by a manufacturing company in Bray, County Wicklow. I also thank the Minister for attending to hear my concerns in the matter. I know he will do his best to assist.
I am concerned primarily for the safety of the 125 jobs at risk and whose loss would constitute a disaster for Bray. This company has for almost a year been engaged in attempts to restructure its borrowing and obtain additional equity.It has received every assistance from Forbairt, the Minister and the competitiveness and employment protection unit in his Department. I pay tribute to the officers of that unit, who have bent over backwards in their efforts to ensure the company's long term success and future viability.
By way of general comment I wish to refer to the attitude of the banks, whose role in such cases is absolutely critical. I hope that when tenders for the purchase of the Trustee Savings Bank are being considered, due regard will be had to the track record of bidders in maintaining and creating jobs and that the tenders will not be looked at in isolation.It would be a shame if the TSB were to be sold to an organisation which was not pro-jobs, or to any organisation which does not have a positive attitude towards maintaining employment and helping companies through difficult trading periods.
Turning to the immediate subject, will the Minister ensure that all possible steps are taken to safeguard the 125 jobs in Bray. With 7,741 people unemployed at the end of January 1995, Wicklow can ill-afford for this figure to be increased by another 125. The social fabric of Bray which has 3,942 unemployed, more than half of the county's total, could not withstand a further substantial increase of this size.
The overall economic mood in the country is positive and I hope this positive mood can be brought to bear upon this situation. This progressive company, employing 125 skilled and dedicated staff, has been at pains to co-operate with all relevant agencies to ensure its survival.
The company's top quality, pro-active management has been trying for some considerable time to restructure its debt and I have had regular contact with the Minister's predecessor, my colleague, Deputy Seamus Brennan, who was ultra co-operative in this matter. Unfortunately, the company's bank has been most unhelpful. On several occasions during the past six weeks the bank has altered the conditions under which it was prepared or provide additional essential finance to the company. Agreement had been reached between Forbairt, the company and its bank, only to be later changed by the bank, much to the surprise of Forbairt and the company. Forbairt is happy to support the company, not just with platitudes, but by providing additional financial facilities. Most recently, auditors appointed by the bank issued a recommendation that the company should find additional equity and that its borrowing should be restructured — this restructuring is precisely what the company had been trying to achieve for almost a year, and even now after the bank's auditors have recommended this action, the bank is less than helpful in facilitating this. It is ironic that this bank today announced profits of IR£105 million in 1994, and that its chairman has taken such pride in stating that he feels his bank is now "unrivalled as the Third Banking Force in the Republic of Ireland", that his bank is the ideal partner for the TSB, that his bank "is in a unique position to participate in and support commercial life on both sides of the Border", and that as the long established "all-island" bank, they look forward to contributing strongly to a very promising economic future.
While I appreciate that the Minister is unable to intervene in the bank's commercial decisions, or in matters affecting its relationship with clients, I hope equal regard will be had to the realities of commercial life for companies dealing with this bank, and that its public platitudes at the announcement of its profits will not overshadow its performance at the cutting face of job creation and maintenance.
Will the Minister once again ensure that full consideration is given to every option available to ensure that these jobs are not lost and that this company receives the support it deserves.
