Deputy Spring has been given permission to raise on the Adjournment the loss of 200 jobs in Kerry Fashions, Tralee.
Adjournment Debate. - Cork-Kerry Threatened Job Losses.
With your permission I will divide my time with Deputy Allen and Deputy Gerry O'Sullivan.
All dealing with Tralee?
All dealing with the loss of jobs in the Sunbeam Group. I am sure the Minister will have no objection.
It is agreed.
I am grateful for your agreement because there is the threat of job losses in the Kerry Fashions plant in Tralee and in the Sunbeam plant in Cork. I will let my Cork colleagues deal with the matter.
On 29 January the difficulties of the parent group of these companies were made public. Many weeks have now elapsed and it would appear that no progress has been made in efforts to save these jobs. I raise the matter today because the situation is now very serious and has been deteriorating on a daily basis. In the case of Tralee there were nearly 200 workers, mostly female, in a town with 20 per cent unemployment and the impact of 200 further redundancies will be very profound. Most of the female workers are from single income families where the husband is unemployed. There is little or no alternative employment available. Already I have had discussions with a number of young single women who are considering emigrating because the prospects of employment in Tralee or in County Kerry are not very healthy.
In fairness to the Minister for Industry and Commerce, he has met deputations from Cork and Kerry but the attitude to date has been laid back. It is necessary that there should be direct intervention by the Minister for Industry and Commerce and by the State agencies — in the case of the Kerry plant by Shannon Development and in the case of the Cork plant by the IDA. We need a "hands on" approach otherwise the situation which has been deteriorating will become irretrievable.
During the past two weeks people had been made redundant in different sections of the plant and it appears that the plant will have reached total wind down by next weekend. If they stop manufacturing we are in serious trouble and it will not be possible to keep their markets open. The knitwear industry is a very competitive business and those market opportunities will be filled very quickly, be they in the United States, Britain or elsewhere.
I am asking the Minister for Industry and Commerce or the Minister of State to intervene directly, to contact prospective buyers and ensure they are given every facility by the State agencies in the hope of saving these jobs before it is too late.
I thank Deputy Spring for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I contacted the Minister's office earlier to say there was agreement with the Ceann Comhairle's Office to share time and also to deal with Sunbeam.
It gives me no great pleasure to talk again about Sunbeam Wolsey in Blackpool, Cork. There are 450 jobs at stake there. I will not go over the details because we have dealt with them in the past. If the plant closes in Blackpool it will be a killer punch for an area which has been rocked by unemployment in recent years. The average rate of unemployment in the city is over 20 per cent but in pockets on the northside where the factory is situated unemployment is over 80 per cent. Closure would be a killer punch in such an area. Many of the workers are female and are the only breadwinners in their families.
Sunbeam has a long and proud tradition in the Blackpool area. It is part of the folklore of that area. The song "The Boys of Fairhill" contains the phrase "Blackpool girls are very tall up against the Sunbeam wall". I will not go into it. It will be tragic if the place closes.
There have been many meetings in recent weeks with the workforce, the management, the receiver and the IDA. My constituency colleagues of all shades of opinion have worked day and night in their attempts to save this plant.
Last night a sit-in commenced in the plant. This is a symptom of the frustration of the workers. I would pay tribute to their positive approach in recent weeks and to their commitment to keeping the plant going. There will be more redundancies tomorrow which will leave only 100 workers in the knitting plant out of a total of 180. In the next few days the knitting floor will cease operation entirely, which will mean that the knitting plant will be on the point of closing down and will cease operations.
I come here this evening in the hope that the Minister can give a ray of hope to a workforce who are now deeply frustrated. I would ask him to have discussions with the Minister for Finance on the possible involvement of Fóir Teoranta. I know that Fóir Teoranta is on the point of being dissolved under proposed legislation before this House. However, the structures of Fóir Teoranta are still there and it is still a de facto body whose dissolution I will be opposing. Every lifeline must be considered at this desperate hour. Many firms have been given the kiss of life by Fóir Teoranta. In the Cork area Carrigaline Potteries and Murphys Brewery are firms which have benefited. It is ironic that the Minister for Finance, in whose area C & D animal foods benefited enormously, is now proposing legislation to dissolve Fóir Teoranta. I would ask that this suggestion be examined as a last desperate move. The sands of time are running out for Sunbeam and the direct intervention of the Ministers for Finance and Industry and Commerce is necessary.
The fears of the workforce have been raised by the export to Britain of £500,000 worth of finished products, following the exportation of a lot of equipment prior to the announcement that the receiver was coming in. I appeal to the Ministers to intervene directly.
I thank Deputy Spring for allowing me to participate in this debate. I would sincerely ask the Minister to intervene immediately in this crisis. For the past five or six weeks the public representatives of the area from all parties have been meeting in an effort to get something moving on this issue. What we have seen last night and this morning is the built up frustration of a workforce who have given every co-operation to the receiver, the IDA and the Minister. They have bent over backwards to try to facilitate everyone involved in order to save jobs and to keep the company running. As someone who worked for 30 years in a factory and went through the traumatic experience of being made redundant when the factory closed, I understand what those people are going through. It is very frustrating because maybe 75 per cent of the workforce are women whose husbands are unemployed and who see no future work for them. Many of these women are the breadwinners and sole earners.
Whatever method the Minister uses— the National Development Corporation, the IDA or direct intervention by him— the time is ripe for intervention. As public representatives we did our best and it is easy to understand the pent up frustration of many workers who cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel.
I appeal to the Minister to take on board the representations we have made here and to direct someone somewhere to step in to save the jobs of 450 workers which are of paramount importance to the prosperity of the north side of the city. I ask the Minister to resolve the crisis.
I wish to thank Deputies Spring, Allen and O'Sullivan for their contribution and I recognise their united approach in regard to the constituency involved. The Minister of State, Deputy Lyons, Deputy Wallace and Deputy Quill were also here for the debate and they are very concerned about this serious issue.
As the Deputies are aware, the Minister for Industry and Commerce stressed in the House on 30 January and 15 February last his concern about the threat to jobs in the Sunbeam Group as a result of the appointment of the receiver. These are concerns which I also share.
I can assure the Deputies that the Minister is keeping in very close touch with developments in relation to both companies and I would reiterate that every effort is being made to secure takeovers of the plants and to save the maximum number of jobs.
As Deputies are aware, the IDA and Shannon Development are working very closely with the receiver and the various interests shown in the companies are being explored. However, I must stress to the House that contacts between the receiver, State agencies and potential investors are confidential and I am not at liberty to disclose details of such contacts. Indeed, any disclosure by me would be unhelpful to all concerned. I know Deputies understand the confidentiality of the matter at this important stage.
With regard to the recent action taken by a section of the workforce at the Sunbeam plant, I am concerned about the possible adverse effect of this on the efforts of both the receiver and the IDA to attract a buyer. While I can understand the frustration of the employees concerned whose jobs are at risk this type of action undermines the image of the company and impacts on customer confidence, which is crucial in any future strategy for the operation in the event of a takeover. I appeal to the workers to stop this action and to withdraw from the plant.
In relation to Kerry Fashions, a possible management buy-out is being examined by the receiver but I cannot say any more at this stage because of the sensitivity of the issue. I am sure the Deputy is aware of the situation.
The clothing industry in general is facing a difficult period at present. Undoubtedly, the improved exchange rate vis-à-vis the UK, our main market, has impacted on the clothing industry together with the slow-down in consumer spending in the UK.
However, the particular difficulties being experienced by knitwear producers is a problem which is affecting producers in a number of member states of the Community at present. Notwithstanding this, in so far as the Irish clothing industry are concerned, I want to emphasise that, while some companies in the industry are experiencing difficulties, there are many successful ones with significant growth potential.
In this regard, a wide range of measures are in place and are being implemented on an on-going basis to address the weaknesses identified in the sector, which include lack of scale, inadequate management skill, lack of attention to marketing and lack of finance. The measures in place include financial packages with increased emphasis on State support for marketing and technology; marketing initiatives, home and export; company development planning; training programmes, etc., and involve the State agencies working very closely with the sector. Incentive packages are structured to meet the agreed strategic development needs of companies with more emphasis on management development and greater support for strategic market led initiatives.
The measures in place to assist the industry are, of course, continually being refined in the light of evolving trade developments. The major challenges facing the Irish clothing industry in the future are the completion of the Internal Market by 1992 and the longer term phasing out of the multifibre arrangement (MFA).
The clothing industry must prepare themselves to meet the challenges ahead and the increased competition from low cost sources by increasing their competitiveness and developing their export markets. I am confident that the industry can meet the challenges ahead with the assistance of the strategies being pursued by the State agencies.
While the support agencies play an important role in helping the industry to develop and expand, much of the initiative rests with the industry itself to exploit new markets and to be competitive on the home market.
The Minister, Deputy O'Malley, has assured me that everything possible is being done to try to resolve the great difficulties facing the Sunbeam Wolsey Group. I share the concern of the Deputies in this regard and I hope they understand the sensitivity of the issue. I appeal to the employees concerned to withdraw from the factory because it is damaging the efforts of State agencies in relation to the negotiations taking place.