Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014
399. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding a company (details supplied) in County Louth; if he will provide in tabular form the aids or supports given to this company by the industrial development agency or Enterprise Ireland over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34125/14]
View answerThe recent public announcement by Rexxam Electronics, based in Drogheda, that it had made the decision to close later this year with the loss of all 67 jobs, is very much regretted and I sympathise with the employees affected, who have given loyal service to the company.
This Japanese-owned company is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and 90% of its business was from one customer, another Japanese company. Following a cost-cutting exercise by that customer, Rexxam lost its contract to a competitor in Asia. It is a hard economic reality that, over recent decades, the production of PCBs has been shifting from Europe to Asia for cost reasons.
Over the years, IDA Ireland has maintains a strong relationship with the Irish and Japanese management team and has assisted with support for Green Cards and the Intra-Company Transfer process. The IDA have been very conscious of the challenges facing the company and over recent years it has worked with them, both at local management level and with its parent company in Japan, to seek to effect change in its Irish operations. Various proposals were developed by the IDA to explore restructuring and to pursue a range of business opportunities to diversify operations in Drogheda but the company decided they were not in a position to proceed with these possible initiatives.
Over recent months Minister of State Nash has been engaged with the company in relation to the threatened closure and has arranged for the IDA to maintain close communication with Rexxam to profile the company from a perspective of marketing the business as a going concern or an investment opportunity, both overseas and within Ireland. He has also asked Enterprise Ireland to pursue whether or not the plant might be of interest to any of that Agency’s client companies.
In the past 5 years Rexxam received one payment of €136,500 through IDA Ireland, under the Employment Subsidy Scheme, and this was made in 2009.
On the wider issue of job creation in Louth, we are very pleased with the level of Foreign Direct Investment secured by IDA Ireland there in recent years. The companies involved include Pay Pal, eBay, National Pen, Becton Dickinson, YapStone and Prometric. Very significant numbers of jobs have been created in the county as a result, over the last three years. Work is ongoing to build on this success.
