If it is agreeable to the House, I should like to share my time with Deputy Finucane.
Adjournment Debate. - Job Losses in Mid-West.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
The establishment of the job protection unit to co-ordinate early warning systems within the Industrial Development Authority and the Department of Enterprise and Employment generally was welcomed as a worthwhile initiative. It was felt that, at last, workers could expect timely intervention. Indeed the Minister, Deputy Qunn, invited everybody to support the establishment of that unit. However, as his Department will be aware, there have been substantial redundancies in the flagship multinational companies of County Clare, in Syntex in Clarecastle and De Beers at Shannon. Workers are concerned that this haemorrhage has not been stemmed by the unit. They seek evidence that the officials of that unit have taken the initiative and they want confidence restored, which has not happened to date. Although employees in both companies enjoy substantial earnings they have major commitments. Surely the work of this Departmental unit can be rendered more transparent? For example, has the Minister given any help in reducing costs so that greater competitiveness could be achieved and say whether any new research and development and-or marketing regimes have been proposed?
There are rumours of additional voluntary redundancies in De Beers leading to greater insecurity on the part of workers. Surely the Department has made its expertise available to these companies? f Will the Minister for Enterprise and Employment indicate whether his colleague, the Minister for Finance, will take any initiatives to maintain jobs in manufacturing industry here.
In our region there has been the insecurity of recent decisions in regard to Shannon Airport and the present instability in multinational companies. Having listened to the Minister when he spoke so eloquently in the course of Question Time about this job protection unit I had hoped that we would have had evidence of assistance by now. After all, we witnessed the débâcle at Digital and other industries.
Will the Minister indicate his intentions in relation to the alleged 90 or 100 redundancies in De Beers and whether some new initiative will be undertaken in that regard? Surely something can be done to prevent the wholesale loss of jobs in the region?
In recent times in the mid-west region, with the haemorrhage of jobs in the case of prestige multinational companies such as Syntex, De Beers and Aughinish Alumina and the uncertainty of the future role of Shannon, there has been much insecurity felt by workers generally. For a long time the mid-west was identified as the linchpin of industrial progress but there is now a great sense of despondency in the region. In my county of Limerick the main arterial route is the Shannon Estuary, long identified as an area for potential jobs, once described as a jewel of the western world. In the late 1970s and early 1980s a few projects were established there, particularly the ESB projects at Moneypoint and Tarbert, with Aughinish Alumina recognising the potential at the time to create an Alumina plant there, which provided 5,000 construction jobs in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Indeed many in County Limerick regarded Aughinish Alumina as the flagship industry of the area where up to recently there were 600 jobs; now 135 redundancies have been agreed. These redundancies will create a sense of gloom and despondency, not alone in County Limerick but in North Kerry and Limerick city since many people from those areas work in that plant. I shudder to think what many of the people who work there, in management and in the plant, will fall back on.
There has been much rhetoric about the Shannon Estuary. I remember the Taoiseach, shortly after his election, speaking at an Irish Management Institute Conference in Killarney classifying it as a great area for transhipment; then the buzz word changed and recently it was called a trading bridgehead. A project team has been meeting for some time past but I am very sceptical about their endeavours because I have not seen anything worthwhile come to fruition; there appear to be merely hot air proposals. I should like the Minister for Enterprise and Employment to come to grips with this matter and ascertain what the project team is doing with regard to targeting potential industry along the estuary.
An industrial park in Askeaton, County Limerick has lain idle for many years and I should like to think that industry could be attracted there. At one stage it was thought that a health care project had been procured for the area but it was eventually hived off to Dublin.
I should like to think that the Minister would give something back to the mid-west region, the subject of considerable buffeting in recent times, some of it at the hands of Government. He should do something to compensate for recent job losses there. One thing appreciated by the management of Aughinish Alumina was that the Minister allocated £500,000 to the establishment of his enterprise support unit. We also appreciate the present talks with the county enterprise team in an effort to steer some future projects for the benefit of employees there. I would like to think that other companies in a similar situation would consider the same type of venture and a similar allocation of funds equivalent to the number of redundancies to soften the blow. Perhaps we should seriously target extra industries for the Shannon estuary area.
I thank the two Deputies opposite for raising these matters. I know they are both concerned about developments in their area. I should like to refer to the points they raised. Aughinish Alumina is a major employer with just under 600 people employed at their Limerick plant. Unfortunately the market for their specific product, alumina, is in recession at the moment and it will be some time before there is an upturn. Faced with an over supply of alumina in world markets, Aughinish was left with no alternative but to announce a certain number of redundancies in order to reduce costs and improve competitiveness. This was part of a comprehensive survival plan which, hopefully, will secure the continued presence of Aughinish in Limerick as a viable and enduring operation.
Shannon Development is working closely with the company to assist those being laid off to restart in business themselves. In this connection a number of programmes and services geared specifically to the creation of new indigenous enterprises are being utilised.
The other company to which reference was made, De Beers, in common with other international trading organisations, has also been affected by the ongoing world recession. In order to remain competitive it has found it necessary to reduce employee numbers. I am aware that De Beers has operated successfully in Shannon for over 33 years and is a major contributor in terms of employment and output in the region. Shannon Development has always worked closely with De Beers in the past and will continue to do so in order to ensure its continued presence at Shannon as a successful and dynamic company.
The major restructuring programme which has been put in place by GPA will ensure its future at Shannon and, while there have been some redundancies, the long term prospects for this company and their new partners, General Electric, have been enhanced by the restructuring programme.
I would like to re-emphasise what I said in the Dáil last month in answer to a question on the employment situation in the Shannon region. The mid-west has a first-class industrial infrastructure which will be used to develop industrial enterprise over the coming years. Shannon Development and the IDA are achieving continued success in bringing new companies onstream and in generating increases in employment and output within existing companies. Specifically within the Shannon region a selection of key resources is already in place which will ensure that growth and development will continue apace. These facilities include the Shannon free zone, the National Technological Park at Plassey, the Shannon World Aviation Park, the Shannon Estuary as well as Shannon Airport.
The cyclical nature of international markets and their interaction with the internal dynamics of multinational trading corporations must inevitably mean that employment in existing companies will fluctuate over time in response to changing conditions. Allowing for that, it is of some significance that last year, for the fifth year in succession, Shannon Development achieved a net increase in employment in the industrial areas for which it is responsible. Shannon also exceeded its job creation target for new jobs in 1992 set for the region under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress. Given the extremely difficult business climate which exists at present all of us will recognise that this is a considerable achievement.
On a more positive note today I announced the establishment of a major project in Limerick by the AST research corporation — the fourth largest personal computer company in the United States. This project, the details of which were announced this afternoon at 3 p.m., will create 600 new jobs.
Deputy Ferris announced that a couple of months ago.
It is a different project. Deputy Carey will be glad to hear that it reverses what he referred to earlier as the Digital débâcle. This project will create 600 new jobs within the next three years and confirms again the attractiveness of Ireland in general and the Shannon region in particular as a location for foreign inward investment.
It is shifting now to Clonmel.
Ná bí ag cur isteach, a Theachta.