The extreme west of Waterford is deprived in terms of employment. There are three small towns – Tallow, Lismore and Cappoquin. Cappoquin has a poultry industry which is giving very satisfactory and gainful employment. However, the other towns are left without industry. The closure of Cadena is a disaster for Tallow. It might be said that 68 people is a small number of employees, but it was an invaluable source of local employment.
Just over two years ago, there were two factories in Tallow, Flair Plastics Ltd. and Cadena. At one time Cadena employed as many as 140 people while Flair Plastics Ltd. employed 80 people. People from the locality have no option but to travel to the neighbouring towns of Youghal, Fermoy and Dungarvan to seek employment. However, these towns have had their own difficulties in recent times. This week SCI Ireland Ltd. in Fermoy announced 120 lay-offs while Stafford Miller Ltd. in Dungarvan announced a large number of lay-offs, on top of the 400 job losses three years ago in Waterford Foods. People in Tallow have a great difficulty seeking employment. Not only is there no employment in their own town, but the three towns in which they would naturally seek employment are also experiencing serious difficulties.
I ask the Tánaiste to use her good offices in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland to ensure the Cadena factory premises is utilised by another industry as soon as possible. It is a considerable premises, and I hope the Tánaiste will recognise the area as being an unemployment black spot and that she will set up a task force to ensure gainful employment is secured for the area. I thank the Tánaiste for agreeing to meet local politicians tomorrow when she is visiting the area.