Vol. 502 No. 4
101 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 140 and 142 of 16 February 1999 the name and location of the 27 companies which have notified her Department of proposed redundancies of approximately 1,500 people in 1999 to include the nine company closures; the action, if any, she will take in these areas to address these redundancies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8609/99]
As the Deputy will be aware from my previous reply to his two questions of 16 February 1999 on company closures, information concerning individual firms experiencing difficulty or likely to experience difficulty, who have notified my Department about proposed redundancies, is by its very nature both sensitive and confidential. It would be the prerogative of the companies themselves to disclose such information.
I can assure the Deputy that the State development agencies under my Department continue to work closely with such companies to maximise competitiveness and minimise job losses. As the Deputy will also be aware, task forces representative of the agencies and the other interests concerned are endeavoring to deal with the problems associated with company closures in a number of areas, including Donegal, Dublin, Limerick, Longford, Mullingar and Laois. Every effort is being made to attract replacement industries and to encourage expansion of existing industries. Suitable re-training for workers is provided where necessary.
