Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 March 2012
117 Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation that in view of the long running dispute at a company (details supplied), if he will ensure that the State’s industrial relations agencies treat with the utmost urgency the need to deal without further delay with the concerns of employees of the company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15998/12]
View answerWorkers at the Lagan Brick factory in Kingscourt, Co. Cavan have been involved in a protest outside the company's premises in a dispute over the decision by the company to close its operation on 15 December last with the loss of 29 jobs. The union wanted to retain maximum employment at the plant and secure satisfactory redundancy terms for any workers that lose their jobs. Subsequently, representatives of the company and the trade union SIPTU attended conciliation talks at the Labour Relations Commission on 10th and 16th January. These talks were reconvened on 6 February following consideration by both sides of an examination of the trading position of the company undertaken by an independent expert.
Following the 6th of February hearing, SIPTU stated that it would be seeking the intervention of the Labour Court in this dispute following the failure to reach agreement in the talks at the LRC. However, I understand that Lagan Brick subsequently issued a statement to the effect that the company did not intend to pursue further negotiation with worker representatives in this matter. I understand that, in a ballot conducted on Thursday 1st March, SIPTU members in Lagan Brick voted almost unanimously to take strike action in response to the company's decision not to attend the Labour Court, and that seven days' notice of strike action was served on Lagan Brick by SIPTU on 2nd March. Official strike action began at Kingscourt on 10 March and SIPTU intends to continue the action until a satisfactory conclusion is reached.
I regret that the company has decided against pursuing a negotiated settlement and has declined to attend a Labour Court hearing, contrary to good industrial relations practice in that regard. In my view, the experience and expertise of the Labour Court offers the most appropriate and effective avenue for resolving such issues. I would urge the parties involved in this dispute to work together to break the current impasse by utilising the established machinery for dispute resolution, who are available to assist at short notice.
