I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this matter this evening. I am disappointed the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy O'Keeffe, is not present to reply to it, given that this plant closure will affect his constituency and that he has responsibility for the food industry. I take it he is working hard to ensure this company remains viable and that this plant reopens, or something to that effect. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moffatt, for coming in to reply to this matter. I hope he will convey to the Minister my concern, and that of my constituents, about the closure of this plant.
Universal Foods has announced it will lay off of 65 workers. However, vegetable processing is seasonal work. There are 90 people employed in this plant for 11 months of the year, 115 for eight months and the number increases to 172 at peak time for four months of the year.
Notwithstanding the knock-on effect of this closure on the town and its environs, I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy O'Keeffe, is aware of the food-town concept. Other companies in the immediate catchment area will also be affected. In other words, from tea bags to toilet paper, the local economy has been dealt a body blow from which it cannot easily recover. The raw materials for this company are sourced locally. Ninety farmers are also affected by this closure and we all know the difficulties that face the agriculture community. Those farmers are relatively smallholders with 60 to 100 acres. What are they to do now? The timing of the announcement of this closure could not have been worse because at this time of the year farmers have to make decisions about area aid, extensification, etc. They have now been left in limbo.
What happened to the early warning system? Why was this closure not anticipated? What did the Government do to keep this plant open? When a former Minister of State, Paddy Hegarty, was in the position now held by Minister of State, Deputy O'Keeffe, he managed, in similar circumstances, to keep the plant functioning as a vegetable processing plant.
This plant is the last one of its kind in the country. From now on we will import all our vegetables. Last year we exported £2,400 million worth of vegetables, approximately 4,000 tonnes, but we will have to import those vegetables in future. That reflects badly on an agricultural-based country.
I am disappointed and angry that this company has to close. What has the Government done to try to keep it open and what does it intend to do now to ensure a similar type plant is located in Midleton to process vegetables including carrots, peas, French beans, swedes, cabbages, etc.? Those vegetables can be easily grown in the area and the local farmers are experts at producing them.
Contractors, who have invested a good deal of money in expensive machinery to harvest these crops, will also suffer a major loss. For what other purpose will they use this machinery and how will they earn a livelihood? The closure of this plant is a body blow not only to my constituency but to the country. Instead of expanding this industry with value added products such as frozen vegetables, we are allowing it to be destroyed. The Government is presiding over the loss of the last such industry in the country and we will become totally dependent on imported vegetables. That is not good enough.
I urge the Minister to convey to his ministerial colleagues that they must do everything possible to secure a replacement company to take over this plant. A good deal of money has been poured into this plant in recent years. It is a modern plant, but it probably requires further investment to make it viable.
In the event that he fails to find a replacement industry, I ask the Minister to ensure the workers concerned are treated properly and given a substantial redundancy. This plant has been in operation for 35 years and many of these workers have been employed there for that length of time. Their skills are related to the industry and they will find it difficult to secure other employment in spite of the Celtic tiger. Deputy Allen pointed out that Cork has been dealt a body blow in recent times. What jobs can be offered to the farmers affected to replace the income they will lose? Farmers cannot get jobs in electronic companies. We might be putting all our eggs in one basket by concentrating on electronic companies. I ask the Minister to do everything possible to assist this company. I want him to tell us what the Government did in the past, and is doing now, to assist this company.
