The announcement by Seagate Technology that it is closing its plant with the loss of 1,400 jobs is a catastrophe, not only for the people who are losing their jobs but also for their extended families who are dependent on them. It is not only a catastrophe for Clonmel but also for neighbouring towns such as Tipperary, Cashel, Carrick-on-Suir and Cahir as well as parts of Waterford, Kilkenny and north Cork. For each job lost there are probably a minimum of three dependants, so the devastation felt by so many is hard to calculate. It is particularly poignant that this announcement should have come out of the blue only two weeks before Christmas. Many of those working in Seagate lost their jobs when Digital closed in 1992. Many people got jobs in Seagate after long periods of unemployment, while others left jobs to join the company.
The bombshell announcement is difficult to understand. How can a company the size of Seagate, with an investment the size of that in Clonmel, expect its employees to accept that such a decision can be made overnight? This is what the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, wishes us to believe. I do not believe that a company of this scale can make such a decision in a matter of a few days.
It is quite clear from what we now know that the position of the Clonmel plant had been under review for three months. We know this from the Minister herself and from the head of the IDA. The Tánaiste will have to explain why she is expressing such shock and surprise at this announcement when she clearly had known for three months that Seagate was considering its position in Clonmel.
It is extraordinary that as recently as Tuesday, 24 hours before this announcement, staff had been informed that a new clean room facility was being installed to upgrade facilities. It is also extraordinary that 24 hours before this announcement, staff were being informed about details of a wage increase which they would get over the next two years. This kind of business practice is to be condemned. I am critical of senior management in Seagate who kept their staff in the dark and lulled them into a false sense of security by speaking about plans two years hence. This morning I heard of one man who only yesterday at 3 p.m., approximately three hours before staff were informed of the closure, signed mortgage papers for his new home. I heard too of people who were on their day off and got telephone calls from other members of their families who heard the announcement on the radio, and of a young couple, both of whom work for the company, who have no prospect of paying their mortgage. This is not the way to treat staff who have given their all for the company.
I turn to the role of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, in this horrific saga. No Minister can be held responsible for the impact on trading of changes in the economy of other parts of the world but the responsibility rests with the Minister to keep herself informed as to the impact of the Asian economy on jobs in Ireland. She has been particularly complimentary to Asian economies and work practices and has quoted their success, the low cost of labour and the long hours that Asian people are prepared to put into their work. Since the Minister has declared herself to be such an expert on these economies, why was she not conscious of the effect of a downturn in them on any projects providing vital jobs here? Why does she now tell us she knew about the difficulties in the Clonmel plant for three months and took no steps to prevent its closure, or to at least prepare the people working in this company for some rationalisation of the plant, which was being discussed by senior management?
In early October, the Minister met a deputation from south Tipperary consisting of Oireachtas Members, the chairman of the county council, the manager of South Tipperary County Council, the county development officer and the IDA to discuss the lack of jobs in Tipperary town. Seagate was referred to in a very positive manner in terms of the excellence and number of jobs created in south Tipperary. No hint or word of caution was given by the Minister that day despite the fact that information was becoming available that Seagate was considering options for the Clonmel plant.
On the 6 November 1997 in columns 923-5 of the Official Report under questioning by Opposition Deputies, including myself, the Minister assured the House that the Seagate project for Cork was only postponed and not cancelled. She stated:
the company's representatives have assured me this is a merely a postponement and all I can do is accept their word, which I am happy to do. Our experience with this company in the past has been a good one and its Cork project is very much part of their plans for the future.
At the time she was fully aware the company was considering downsizing the plant in Clonmel by 750 jobs, or finding a way to cut down on overhead costs which would have led to loss of jobs. How could the Minister have been so badly informed and so unaware of the realities of business that, on the one hand, she was discussing with the company the downsizing of its Clonmel plant and, on the other, accepting its assurance that there was no threat to the Cork project?
It defies belief that the Minister could have been so naive to accept these assurances and pass them on to Members without giving some warning of the nature of her discussions with Seagate about Clonmel. The Minister misled the House and the high powered deputation from south Tipperary. On 4 December 1997 in the Seanad Senator Tom Hayes raised the issue of employment in Tipperary yet again and my colleague, Deputy Theresa Ahearn, expressed outrage at how this closure could have been allowed to happen. In the Minister's reply to Senator Hayes, she talked positively about initiatives that were ongoing in Tipperary and did not refer to any concern she might have about Seagate and its future. The statement was made 24 hours ahead of the decision in the US to close down the Clonmel plant.
I find it extraordinary and incredible that this Minister who, when in Opposition, expected every Minister to be on top of his brief, totally informed of and accountable for what was going on in his Department, can now distance herself. She must be measured against the standards she expected of others.
The workers of Seagate are entitled to know why this decision has come like a bolt from the blue and why the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment was not on top of her brief and making plans to cope with a decision that might be taken by Seagate to close the plant. We have experience of other plants closing with job losses but there are ways in which such closures can be carried out on a phased basis to allow the IDA and other agencies the opportunity to look for alternative jobs and also to give the workers the opportunity to come to terms with the job losses. This did not happen in this case and the Minister is culpable.
She must take responsibility for allowing people to raise loans to buy houses or cars, to invest in their children's education, to spend money for Christmas knowing there would not be salaries to meet those expenditures.