Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 29 Apr 2009

Adjournment Debate.

Company Closures.

Deputy Thomas McEllistrim

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this very important issue for my constituency. I call on the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan, to move quickly to ensure that jobs lost due to the closure of the Amann plant are replaced quickly and every opportunity for retraining and up-skilling is afforded to those affected so they may re-enter the workforce as soon as possible.

The closure of the German-owned Amann Industries in Tralee, the second largest manufacturing plant in north Kerry, which was announced last Friday, is a major blow to the region. An attempt to restructure to maintain jobs has proved unsuccessful and now a total of 340 jobs and millions of euro in revenue will be lost to the area. I call on the Minister to instruct the IDA to make Tralee its number one priority. I am making this case to the Department and I will be taking it up directly with the IDA. My first thoughts go to the employees and their families. I hope the company will put a generous redundancy package in place to see them through this difficult time. It is the least they deserve after all their loyal service and the hard work they have done for Amann over the years.

I have already spoken to the Minister of State on this issue and I am repeating my call for more support for Tralee town. I do not believe enough is being done to promote Tralee as an investment location and the IDA needs to take more responsibility for bringing jobs to Tralee. We need to be positive about all Tralee has to offer if we are to attract foreign investment. We need to be part of the marketing and PR effort to promote Tralee and help bring more jobs to the north Kerry and west Limerick areas.

The increase in the numbers on the live register across the north Kerry area is unwelcome and is an indication of the challenges that now face us, particularly with regard to manufacturing. These challenges must be faced and job losses must be minimised as far as possible. Our priority must be to create an environment that will allow those who have lost their jobs to return quickly to the workplace. Every opportunity for retraining and upskilling must be afforded to those affected so they may re-enter the workforce as soon as possible. Indeed, retraining and education should be offered immediately, even before the employees complete their employment with Amann.

We need to see results from the IDA's concentration on the linked hub locations of Killarney in south Kerry and Tralee in north Kerry. I recognise the need to mobilise initiatives and resources on a regional rather than a purely local basis. However, taking all these factors into account, it must be made clear that we are taking action to deal with the economic and employment challenges facing the people of Tralee and the north Kerry and west Limerick areas.

Before I conclude I will take the opportunity to congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, on his recent appointment.

Deputy Jimmy Deenihan

Amann Industries Corporation announced a two-stage plan to close its production plant in Tralee at a general meeting of all employees last Friday. The plant, which has been in production since 1998, manufactures high-quality technical sewing threads with a range of industrial applications. A restructuring programme aimed at reducing manufacturing costs was already announced earlier this year with the loss of 120 jobs, and Friday's announcement was of the loss of the remaining 210 jobs. The company issued a press release which stated: "The need to remain competitive in a very difficult, cost sensitive market, combined with high labour, energy and other manufacturing costs have led to this regrettable decision."

I agree with Deputy McEllistrim that not enough has been done to bring industry to Tralee. Nothing of any note has been done either by the IDA or by the Government. Over the past ten years Tralee, the county capital, has lost many of its manufacturing industries, including Denny, Ridgeview, Kerry Fashions, Klopman, Maycon Mouldings, Glen Dimplex, Kleinhuis, Wilson socks and now Amann. Its industrial base has been decimated.

Since 1998 no new IDA-supported company has been established in Tralee or Kerry, but 30 new IDA-assisted international companies were established in Cork between 2002 and 2007. The IDA arranged 145 site visits in Cork for potential foreign direct investment between 2002 and 2007, whereas over the same period only 13 visits were organised for Kerry and, apparently, these were not of a serious nature.

One of the most exciting developments in the county was the opening of Kerry Technology Park in 2001. This resulted from the shared vision of Shannon Development — not the IDA — and the Institute of Technology in Tralee. Kerry Technology Park is now home to 17 companies which employ more than 300 people in well paid jobs. In 2007 these companies generated annual sales of more than €60 million. In 2007 the Government, in its wisdom, stripped Shannon Development, the prime driver of job creation in Tralee, of its industrial brief and transferred it to Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has no office in Tralee and no permanent presence there.

The live register figure for Tralee in March was 6,181, a 69.4% increase on the March 2008 figure. Tralee is a national black spot when it comes to job losses and employment creation. It has been ignored by both the IDA and the Government over the past ten years; it is simply not on the map.

The loss of 230 jobs at Amann is as big a blow to Tralee as the loss of more than 1,900 jobs at Dell in Limerick. The Government task force established in the aftermath of these job losses at Dell should be extended to include Tralee. I also ask that FÁS now put in place retraining programmes for those unfortunate workers who will now not be able to pay their mortgages, in some cases, and will find it difficult to get alternative employment. These measures should be put in place now.

I congratulate the Minister of State on his recent appointment. He was responsible for setting up a chamber of commerce in Listowel and I thank him for that.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Dara Calleary)

I thank Deputies McEllistrim and Deenihan, and all Deputies and Senators, for their good wishes. I also thank the Deputies for raising this matter on the Adjournment.

On Friday 24 April, Amann announced that its plant in Tralee was to close with the loss of 215 jobs. The Tánaiste and the Department are keenly aware of the impact on the employees of Amann and their families. In many cases, such company announcements are a result of global conditions or decisions over which we have little influence. The closure announcement follows the announcement in January of the loss of 120 jobs in the dyeing operations due to their transfer to a new production plant in Romania. These job losses are under way, with 50 jobs lost and the remainder to go by September this year. The remaining labour-intensive spinning and twisting operations are to cease in June and will transfer to the company's facility in China over the period September 2009 to September 2010.

I am advised this decision is part of an overall restructuring and consolidation of the Amann operations to reduce manufacturing costs in light of the significant decline in its business due to the weakening global economy and the dramatic downturn in the automotive industry. The textile industry is extremely competitive and cost-sensitive, and the decline in sales is having a significant impact on its business, which relies on high volume and economies of scale to ensure its viability. Amann will no longer spin in-house and will replace this with material sourced from suppliers at low cost. The labour-intensive, low-value-added operations of twisting and spinning can no longer be sustained in Tralee and significant cost savings are envisaged in the transfer of these operations to its facilities in lower-cost countries.

The IDA has worked closely with the company to assess opportunities to sustain the plant, which was highly regarded as a productive and efficient plant within the group, and its representatives have met both local and German management. However, given the cost pressures and weak demand, the company felt it had no option but to restructure its operations to sustain the Amann group.

The role of FÁS, the industrial training agency, is particularly important in assisting those who lose their jobs. Following the internal company consultation process, which has just commenced, representatives of FÁS have met with Amann management and staff representatives and have formulated a plan of action to deliver the full range of FÁS services to all staff being made redundant in 2009 and 2010. These services will include on-site presentations to all staff; advice on setting up a resource centre in-house to facilitate staff in career guidance and job search activities; and the provision of a range of pre-redundancy and, where necessary, post-redundancy training courses to assist all staff in skills updating, which will enable them to compete in the labour market.

The State development agencies, including the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development and the Kerry County Enterprise Board, will continue to work to support existing jobs and secure new jobs in the Tralee area, liaising where appropriate with the local institute of technology.

Cancer Screening Programme.

Deputy Joe McHugh

I take this opportunity to join my colleagues on the other side of the House in congratulating the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, on his appointment. I am sure it was great news for his family, close supporters and constituents.

My colleagues and I find ourselves in something of a predicament tonight in terms of the channelling of information. Last Monday, as far as the women of Donegal, Leitrim and Clare were concerned, BreastCheck was finally to be rolled out in these regions, nine years after it was rolled out on the east coast and 13 years after the national cancer strategy was introduced by the former Minister for Health, Deputy Michael Noonan, in 1996. After all the campaigning by various groups such as Donegal Action for Cancer Care and Co-operating for Cancer Care North West, and the several occasions on which hopes have been dashed, 2009 was eventually given as the date of roll-out. However, as of Tuesday morning, rumours were rife throughout the regions in question that because of the recruitment freeze, the roll-out would not go ahead.

We should consider this issue not as politicians, but from the perspective of the women concerned. They put up with the fact that they were being treated in an inequitable, unfair and discriminatory way for a period of nine years in the expectation that BreastCheck would be rolled out to their areas this year. By Tuesday, however, the entire project was up in the air. I raised this issue with the Taoiseach that day and by the evening, it seemed there was reason to be hopeful. As of today, it seems the train is back on the track and that the BreastCheck roll-out will proceed.

On behalf of the women concerned, what assurances can the Minister of State offer in regard to the delivery of this programme? On too many occasions, expectations and hopes have been raised only to be disappointed. To withdraw the roll-out of the scheme would be an injustice to the women of these regions. I ask the Minister of State to confirm that it will proceed and that the health information Bill from the Department of Health and Children will be introduced as a matter of priority.

Deputy Dinny McGinley

I join colleagues in congratulating the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, on his appointment. I wish him well. I had the pleasure of serving with his father for many years. I am sure he is very proud that his son has now attained the same high office.

Yesterday's revelation by the Health Service Executive that the embargo on recruitment to the public service could prevent the planned roll-out of BreastCheck to counties Donegal, Leitrim and Clare within the often promised timeframe of 2009 came as a shocking bolt out of the blue not only to the thousands of women who are left without the benefit of this crucial health facility, but to the entire population of the region. We all have mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and nieces who may be vulnerable to breast cancer. Fortunately, its incidence can be greatly reduced by the availability of a screening service.

It is now nine years since BreastCheck was made available in certain parts of the State and it beggars belief that Donegal, Leitrim and Clare remain out of the loop. It is unacceptable that geographic location seems to determine the availability of such a critical health screening service. While we all understand the crisis in the public finances and the need to curtail recruitment to the public service, delivery of critical health services should and must be exempt. A blanket ban on recruitment is too blunt an instrument, particularly when it impinges negatively on the delivery of BreastCheck and other critical cancer services. This was acknowledged when arrangements for a derogation in certain critical areas were announced. What areas are more critical than cancer diagnosis and treatment?

To facilitate the roll-out of BreastCheck to the north west, I understand interviews have already been successfully concluded and that the radiography personnel are virtually on stand-by to operate the service. What is necessary now is to allow an exemption under the derogation clause so that the Health Service Executive can proceed without further delay in providing this long awaited cancer service to Donegal and the north west. Like my colleague, Deputy Joe McHugh, I am anxious to hear what the Minister of State has to say. There are rumours circulating in Donegal all afternoon, as I am sure there are in Clare, which have emanated from Government Deputies, to the effect that there is no cause for concern — nudge, nudge and wink, wink — and that everything will be all right on the day. This is not acceptable to the women of Donegal, Leitrim and Clare.

There must be a clear indication from the Minister of State of what is intended to be done. We will not tolerate a nudge, nudge and wink, wink approach. I understand a letter is circulating on the Government benches to some Members of the Dáil and Seanad reassuring them that the programme will go ahead as planned. The Minister of State must explain the situation in no uncertain terms in this House. Every woman in Donegal, Leitrim and Clare will listen to this debate when it is broadcast on the radio tomorrow morning. The Minister of State's response must be in black and white, no more and no less.

Deputy Joe Carey

I join my colleagues in congratulating the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary, on his appointment. However, I am disappointed that the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, is not in the Chamber to respond to our concerns. The BreastCheck programme was launched nationally in 2000. In 2002, an announcement was made that the women of County Clare would benefit imminently from the screening service. Seven years later, no progress has been made in delivering the service to the women of the county.

The latest obstacle in the way of the roll-out is the recruitment embargo in the public service. It is astonishing that we should have to debate this issue today. It is astonishing that the Minister for Health and Children did not move immediately to clarify the situation. On 27 March, I tabled a parliamentary question regarding the appointment of a respiratory physician for cystic fibrosis sufferers in the mid-west. The Minister responded that the moratorium on public service recruitment does not apply to consultants and therapists. Why is this not the case in respect of the radiography services required for the roll-out of BreastCheck?

In 2007, some 66,500 women availed of the BreastCheck service where it was available. As a result, 396 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, representing a small percentage of the numbers screened. However, for those women, none of whom showed any obvious signs of cancer and who presented merely because they had been invited to do so, the service was a life saver. How can the Minister for Health and Children stand over any further delay in the delivery of BreastCheck to women in every county, including Donegal, Leitrim and Clare?

It was confirmed to me in the reply to a parliamentary question that €1.35 million was spent in 2007 by the national screening service on advertising, promotion, recruitment and consultancy. However, the allocation for front line services is being reduced. There have been enough false dawns in regard to the rolling out of BreastCheck in County Clare. It is high time the women of Clare were offered this service. The Minister must get on with her job and deliver this programme in the interests of patient safety. I ask the Minister of State for a guarantee that it will be delivered without further delay.

Deputy Dara Calleary

I will take the Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. On her behalf and my own, I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this matter, to address the Deputies' concerns and to clarify the situation with regard to the national roll-out of BreastCheck.

The National Breast Screening Board was established in 1998 as a specialist agency with the sole remit of providing Ireland's first quality assured population based breast screening programme, BreastCheck, for women aged 50 to 64. Governance of BreastCheck was transferred to the board of the National Cancer Screening Service on its establishment in January 2007.

BreastCheck provides free mammograms to women aged 50 to 64, sequentially on an area by area basis every two years. BreastCheck began offering free breast screening to women aged 50 to 64 in the then Eastern Regional Health Authority and North Eastern and Midland Health Boards areas in February 2000, nine years ago. Screening was extended to Wexford, Kilkenny and Carlow between 2004 and 2006.

In December 2007, construction of two new static units, the BreastCheck western unit in Galway and the BreastCheck southern unit in Cork, was completed and screening began from both units in counties Cork and Galway in December 2007. These two static units, together with eight mobile digital units, will provide screening to more than 144,000 eligible women aged 50 to 64 in the south and west of the country.

Since December 2007, the BreastCheck service has been extended to nine of the 12 counties in the south and west, these being Mayo, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary and Waterford. The completion of the national roll-out with the extension of BreastCheck to the remaining counties will proceed in 2009.

The Government decided to introduce a moratorium on recruitment across the public service, with effect from 27 March 2009 to end in 2010. However, certain posts in the health sector may be filled, including medical consultants. The focus on these key grades is in line with existing Government policy on the prioritisation of certain development areas for which significant funding has already been provided.

Contrary to what has been said regarding an announcement that BreastCheck will not be rolled out in Donegal, there has been no such announcement. In fact, I am very pleased to confirm that BreastCheck will be extended as planned to Donegal, Leitrim and Clare.

Deputy Joe Carey

I thank the Minister.

Deputy Dara Calleary

Indicative dates for the roll-out are June for County Clare, September for County Donegal and October for County Leitrim. At the same time, it is vital to stress that any woman, irrespective of her age or area of residence, who has immediate concerns or symptoms, should not wait for an invitation to screening from BreastCheck but should contact her GP who, where appropriate, will refer her to the symptomatic services in her area.

Within the past three weeks, the National Cancer Screening Service applied for a series of derogations to allow the recruitment of radiographers to extend the BreastCheck service to Donegal, Leitrim and Clare. This is in accordance with procedures put in place under the recruitment moratorium. The screening service was permitted to proceed with interviews for radiographers last week while the application to recruit these posts was under consideration. I am very pleased to confirm that recruitment of radiographers in these counties can now proceed immediately.

In the wider context, the scope for redeployment of staff from the HSE to the NCSS and within the NCSS itself will continue to be explored with the HSE. In the first instance, however, we will proceed with the recruitment of radiographers as originally planned.

It is important to acknowledge the excellent results of BreastCheck to date. In 2008, BreastCheck screened more than 90,000 women around the country. Indeed, from the commencement of screening in 2000 until 31 March 2009, BreastCheck has provided almost half a million screening appointments to 236,000 women and 3,075 cancers were detected. The 2009 allocation to the National Cancer Screening Service is over €67 million, of which approximately €25 million is allocated for BreastCheck. Screening is an integral element of the national cancer strategy and BreastCheck has a key role in reducing the incidence of and mortality from breast cancer in Ireland.

Separately, funding for cancer services this year also includes an additional €15 million provided to the national cancer control programme on budget day, which is in addition to development funding of almost €22 million allocated in 2007 and 2008. This additional funding during these difficult times is evidence that the cancer control programme and the continued roll-out of BreastCheck are priorities for the Government and I am very pleased that the roll-out of BreastCheck can now proceed on schedule in Donegal, Leitrim and Clare.

Deputy Joe McHugh

I welcome the Minister——

Acting Chairman (Deputy Brian O’Shea)

The Chair will proceed with the Adjournment debate.

Deputy Joe McHugh

The Government must realise——

Acting Chairman

Deputy, please resume your seat.

Deputy Joe McHugh

——that this is a democratic forum for the dissemination of information.

Acting Chairman

The debate on this issue has concluded.

Deputy Joe McHugh

Either the HSE does not know what the Government is saying or the Government does not know what the HSE is saying. Until the Government takes control of its responsibility this country will go down the tubes even further.

Acting Chairman

Deputy, resume your seat please. Your are ignoring the Chair.

Deputy Joe McHugh

I welcome the announcement by the Minister of State. This is where proper information should be disseminated.

Animal Health Investigations.

Deputy Mary Alexandra White

In 1990, Mr. Dan Brennan from a Castlecomer farm in north Kilkenny noticed problems with animals and the environment of his farm in what veterinary experts refer to as lack of thrive, stunted growth and low milk yields. Even the trees and hedgerows were dying on part of the farm. In 1991, Mr. Brennan was unable to sell his animals on account of their lack of growth and despite the absence of sickness among them and the feeding of supplements such as cobalt, zinc and copper, the situation did not improve during the mid-1990s. By 1995, Mr. Brennan had noticed that heifers bought in at 360 kg, which should have weighed 500 kg six months later had gained a mere 30 kg or 40 kg.

The water supply was thought to have been the source of the ill thrift but a change in the farm's water sources yielded no change. In 2000, the animals were put on 50 acres of rented ground on a nearby farm. Mr. Brennan's vet observed that the animals looked completely different. When they were brought back to his own farm they began to lose weight again. Laboratory tests confirmed this.

In the winter of 2003-04, feeding trials were conducted. Two sources of silage, one from Mr. Brennan's farm and one from an external source, were used for the trials on both Mr. Brennan's herd and an external herd. Yet, intermittent weight loss was recorded among the animals using either silage feed. Department officials told Mr. Brennan that he had conducted the tests incorrectly.

In 2006, departmental vets completed a report stating that the source of his animals' problem was disease management. The report was never published because of Mr. Brennan's unhappiness with the findings. A petition, which I wrote and which was accepted by the European Parliament petitions committee, was scathing of the progress being made in this deeply disturbing case. The petition was followed by a visit from Brussels of the committee, who saw the stunted cattle on the farm. In October 2006, the departmental vets ceased conducting tests on Mr. Brennan's farm.

A team of vets from UCD then commenced further tests. When feeding trials in 2006 and 2007 were conducted it was noticed that the animals were gaining weight. The local factory, however, which is in the maximum fall-out area of Mr. Brennan's farm, was closed during the course of these trials. Two letters from Teagasc in the past four years have stated that they do not believe it is the practices on Mr. Brennan's farm which have caused the ill thrift. In July and October 2006, the then Minister for Agriculture and Food promised Mr. Brennan that when a downturn in cattle occurred again, post-mortems, liver biopsies and digestibility studies would be carried out.

My understanding from reports in last week'sKilkenny People is that the investigation undertaken by the centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis based at UCD has finished its work and the report of its findings allegedly shows that cadmium, a dangerous, highly toxic and cancer causing substance has been identified as one of the main causes of health problems on the farm. The levels of the dangerous chemical element found were, apparently, the highest ever recorded in the country.

Cadmium is often found in industrial work places, particularly where ore is being processed or smelted. Cadmium compounds can lead to cancers in animals and organisations such as the World Health Organisation, the American EPA and the US national toxicology programme have all deemed cadmium a problem and a human carcinogen.

I urge the Minister to expedite the publication of this report to give Mr. Dan Brennan and his family answers and justice after 19 years of waiting and to address or alleviate the concerns of the people of Castlecomer about public health issues which might arise if such reports are true. In a recent letter dated 14 April the Minister promised me that the publication of the report would take place at the end of this month or early May. Last week, on the day of media reports on the matter, an official from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food told local radio that it would be several months before the report would be completed. I understand the report, which I have not seen, is being peer reviewed, but one does not peer review a report if it is not completed. I call on the Minister of State to clarify these issues.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Deputy Trevor Sargent)

The animal health problems on the farm referred to by Deputy White have been ongoing for several years and relate mainly to ill-thrift and stunted growth of cattle on the farm in addition to reduced milk yield. I thank Deputy White for her tenacious determination to pursue this investigation in recent years on behalf of Mr. Dan Brennan, his family and the wider community of Castlecomer. The farm in question, which I have visited, has been the subject of extensive investigations in recent years. Since late 2006 it has been the subject of further thorough and comprehensive investigations by the Department's centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis, CVERA, based at University College Dublin. A high degree of inter-agency involvement and co-operation has been a feature of the investigations. The agencies involved have included the EPA, Kilkenny County Council, Teagasc, the HSE — previously, the South Eastern Health Board was involved — and my Department.

In 2004, my Department's veterinary laboratory service arranged for a wide-ranging study to be undertaken into the problems on the farm, following which a report was produced in June 2006. The report documented the range of the investigations, the methodology involved and the results of different aspects. The farmer involved had certain difficulties with some aspects of the report and, at his request, the report was not published.

As part of the inter-agency investigation, several reports, in addition to my Department's 2006 report, were produced. These included the UCC report of 2006 commissioned by the EPA entitled, An Impact Assessment on Epiphytic Lichens; the Ambient Air Quality Survey report of 5 May 2006; the John J Gardiner report, entitled Condition of Trees on the Farm of December 2005; and the EPA summary report of the work completed by the EPA as part of the multi-agency investigation of animal health in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny of September 2006.

Apart from these reports my Department and others have also been involved in several initiatives on this farm. For example, a herd health programme was developed by the farmer's private veterinary practitioner and supported by my Department, to deal with respiratory disease in calves and mastitis in cows. The Department also funded treatment for mastitis, a vaccination programme, the provision of calf hutches to segregate the calves from each other and feeding trials. Other initiatives included a grassland management plan, monitoring growth of calves at grass and checking sources of water to the farm.

Following finalisation of the Department's veterinary laboratory service report in 2006, the then Minister met a delegation of interests, including the farmer, in July 2006 and confirmed that the authorities were more than willing to pursue the investigation further and to seek to get to the root of the problems on the farm. The Minister also met with the director of the EPA to discuss a report it had produced on the environmental impact of emissions. Arising from this process, in 2006 the then Minister asked the centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis to conduct a further thorough and comprehensive study.

The centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis study is designed to complement the work to date and used some different approaches to investigate the production problems on the farm. The study entails a major sampling and testing programme, including investigation of various metabolic pathways, as well as epidemiological studies. In addition, a comprehensive and detailed soil survey is included in the remit of the study. A draft report arising from this work has now been sent for peer review and when this is completed the report will be finalised and published.

The article in theKilkenny People refers to a report. However, I am not aware to which document the newspaper refers and I trust the Deputy would agree, therefore, that it is inappropriate for me to comment in detail upon it. I emphasise that my Department and I, along with the other agencies involved, are determined to establish the underlying cause of the problems on this farm. It is inappropriate at this stage to make any further comment on the centre for veterinary epidemiology and risk analysis investigation until the report is finalised and published, which will take place shortly.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 30 April 2009.