I thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for allowing me raise this matter on the Adjournment, and I thank the Minister for Enterprise and Employment for coming into the House to reply to the debate. I want to ask the Minister the action, if any, he is taking to prevent the loss of 320 jobs at Asahi in Killala, County Mayo, one of the largest employers in the west, and if he will make a statement on the matter. I share the sense of concern that exists throughout the west in regard to affairs at Asahi, about which we knew nothing until we read the dramatic account today in one of the daily newspapers. I listened with interest to one of the SIPTU officials on radio at lunch time when he said that last February he and his colleagues, realising that there were difficulties and wishing to act in a spirit of co-operation, engaged in talks with management, but that they knew nothing of the current situation until they read about it in the papers this morning. He said that they had a meeting arranged for 21 May. That date seems far away in the context of today's crisis.
When did the Minister first become aware of the difficulties at the Asahi plant in Killala, County Mayo, and internationally? Can he account for the actions taken since? Does the Minister intend to intervene directly by, for instance, going to Japan to meet senior management there? Has the relevant section within the Department of Enterprise and Employment been monitoring the difficulties and what action has been taken?
I know it was out of the hands of the Chair, but I would have preferred a Private Notice Question, which I had originally tabled, because of the chance it affords for debate and for questions and answers. This is not possible here. All I can do is pose the question and listen to the Minister read his script. I want to know whether the early warning system came into play in regard to this issue.
Asahi has a fine record. It has a long history in Mayo, locating there first in the 1970s and at one stage employing 750, now down to 320. It has been the centrepiece for employment in Mayo and no effort must be spared in ensuring that employment continues, given the spin-off from it, the fine employment given in it and the commitment of the workers. Today Mr. Noel Kilfeather, the SIPTU official, said quite clearly that they wanted to do what any other committed group of employees would wish to do in the circumstances and try to overcome the difficulties. He was forthright in saying that they would do what was necessary.
There are 3,000 people signing on the live register in Ballina each week while a 25,000 sq. ft. advance factory lies idle and the promise of APC for Castlebar and Protea Pine for Claremorris remain just a promise. There is also worry over the Bellacorrig peat jobs. When I was at a Claremorris Chamber of Commerce dinner as a guest speaker all those matters were put to me very forcefully. Much attention has been paid to Knock Airport by the Minister for Tourism and Trade who is from that area. I wonder now whether those frantic disclosures of his, which were nebulous and insubstantial, were made to minimise the news about Asahi. The Minister expends frantic energy as he moves from town to town and from county to county, but not to Mayo, announcing new jobs, all of which are, in the main, pitched at eight, ten and 12 years hence. The reiteration of these announcements is aimed at overcoming the population. In the most recent poll, jobs remain the huge preoccupation of people. I am convinced that they do not believe the glitzy announcements and feel they are empty promises. They are rainbow promises, and we know what happens on the other side of the rainbow, a false dawn which never emerges.
To return to Asahi, I wish to be as helpful as I can in the circumstances. It seems that at this time of trembling at the door of a general election the Government would seek to facilitate Asahi and save the jobs by reassuring the parent plant or by way of a management buyout. I want to see this happen because Asahi was a proud beacon for employment in north Mayo for many years. It would be sad if something happened to that plant, given that the workers are committed to saving the 320 jobs there. I want to see their commitment matched by ministerial commitment.