Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 5 May 1993

Vol. 430 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Swords (Dublin) Job Losses.

I am disappointed that the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Deputy Quinn, is not present as I wanted to direct some of my comments to him. This is not to take away from the expertise of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Rourke. The loss of 150 jobs at one of the key industries in Swords, County Dublin, will have a devastating effect on the families concerned and on the economy generally in Swords and the surrounding towns of north County Dublin. Amdahl set up a small factory in Ireland with 30 workers in 1978 but by 1992 when they moved to Swords the labour force was 638. Last October Amdahl sought 60 voluntary redundancies and it was assumed this was a necessary step to reflect the world difficulties being suffered by mainframe computer suppliers. The sudden announcement last week by Amdahl Corporation of the need of a worldwide reduction of 1,200 from the workforce took the Amdahl workers by surprise. The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Deputy Quinn, visited the Amdahl Corporation in northern California on 16 March accompanied by the IDA representative for the US west coast and the the secretary of his Department, Mr. Bonnar. Was the Minister warned of impending job losses at that time? If so, what case did he make to save these jobs? It strikes me that the same effort and pressure was not put into preventing the loss of jobs in this instance as was put into fighting for the retention of jobs in Digital, Galway, albeit unsuccessfully.

The IDA has given grants of approximately £9 million to Amdahl and Amdahl has made huge investments in the company through training and service in the general area. The jobs of the excellently skilled staff are threatened by the announcement of 150 redundancies. Will the Minister confirm that every effort is being made to replace these lost jobs in my constituency as a matter of urgency? Allied to this devastating news is the widespread concern already being expressed in thousands of households in north County Dublin concerning the future of the jobs in Aer Lingus. In many families if a member loses his or her job in one company there is also the possibility that another member of the family will lose his or her job in the other company. I am appealing to the Minister to replace these jobs as quickly as possible and to use the excellent skills of the workers which will become available when these redundancies come about.

I wish to pay tribute to the input of Amdahl in its plant in Swords which has benefited its employees and the wider community. Amdahl has been extremely generous in its support for many community projects, including a scholarship scheme which it is running currently for students from the local secondary schools who can apply for university grants and if successful they are funded all through university by Amdahl.

Will the Minister give me an assurance that this is the end of the redundancies to be sought by Amdahl and that the remaining 400 jobs are secure and will not be lost?

I appeal to the Minister, as a person who is not from the Dublin area, to recognise that the loss of this number of jobs is as devastating to Swords and its surroundings as it would be to some of the smaller towns throughout Ireland where huge efforts are made to replace lost industries. I would not like anybody in the Department to assume that because Dublin is the capital and people may find jobs in neighbouring areas there is not a need for the urgent replacement of these jobs and a new factory for Swords.

Deputy Owen presented her case with customary vigour. First, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, is on Government business and quite obviously cannot be in two places at one time. I am concerned that Deputy Owen suggests I would not be competent to deal with a matter such as this.

I did not say that — I wanted to hear a report of his meetings with Amdahl in the US. The Minister of State was not there.

If the shoe were on the other foot. I would not have taken the line the Deputy took on that matter.

——especially a Dubarry shoe.

I will now answer in my usual straightforward way. Amdahl now finds itself in a situation that to ensure its continued survival it must reduce production capacity with resultant consequences on staff numbers. Amdahl is in the process of cutting 1,200 jobs from its 8,700 workforce worldwide. As the plant in Swords is Amdahl's one and only manufacturing operation outside of the United States it is inevitable that Swords would have to bear some of the cutbacks. However, it is important to stress that Swords will continue to be Amdahl's one and only manufacturing location outside of the US and that it will continue to supply Europe, the Far East and the Pacific Basin — areas where rapid market expansion is anticipated,. The fact that Amdahl is also considering other activities for Swords is also encouraging.

From the above it is clear that we have been keeping the situation in Amdahl under close review both on the basis of ministerial contact and on-going suggestions as to enhancement of the activities at Swords.

The electronics industry is currently maturing and consolidating after an explosive growth phase. This is particularly demonstrated on the hardware side of the industry where Amdahl, as a mainframe manufacturer, is increasingly becoming subjected to price pressures and decreasing margins. Due to rapid technological advances the electronics industry is characterised by high and increasing capital intensity matched by shortening product life cycles. That is the background position and I will now deal with what is happening.

To this end, all segments of the electronics industry are kept under constant review and future assessments as to potential and risk are made regularly both by my Department and IDA in conjunction with outside analysts.

As an illustration of how we have sought to respond to this rapidly developing industry, it is worth noting that as the market has moved towards PCs and their associated networking equipment, these companies have been targeted by the IDA. Many representatives of these companies are located in Ireland where they are performing above expectation both by way of job creation and overall performance.

The plant in Swords continues to be a strong participant in Amdahl's plans for the future, a future which will be built on Amdahl's proven resourcefulness in developing new products in a highly competitive sector. It is sad that people are being let go at this stage. My hope is that they will part on amicable terms. I understand that Amdahl is offering a voluntary separation package backed up by severance package. In so doing Amdahl is also offering a vocational education grant to those employees wishing to pursue further education in their chosen career or, indeed, in different fields. I am telling the Deputy this because of her open espousal of its links with people in second level schools. This represents an innovative approach in that not only are the immediate concerns of its employees catered for but also Amdahl is contributing towards their future. That is as I would have expected from Amdahl management who sought every possible means to avoid letting go some of their workforce, but unfortunately they had to let people go. The fact remains that Swords is Amdahl's only manufacturing base outside the US and that, we all hope, guarantees its future.

The Deputy asked whether the Department is as keen to promote and create jobs in Dublin as in other towns throughout Ireland. As the capital city we see it as a place that easily facilitates jobs. I agree that there is usually great hubbub and brouhaha when jobs are lost. Swords is a town with its own community, infrastructure, schools and facilities, similar to any town in the rest of the country, and the Deputy's point is valid. The Department and the IDA always bear that point in mind. I will ask the Department officials to maintain contact with Deputy Owen in regard to progress on this matter.

Barr
Roinn