Vol. 482 No. 5
66 Mr. McGinley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will report on the future of jobs at the Fruit of the Loom operation in County Donegal; and her views on reports that further job losses could occur in the next two years. [18268/97]
I indicated in my reply to a Dáil question on 30 September that I had met the chairman and chief executive officer and other senior executives of Fruit of the Loom Inc., in Chicago on 25 August, to discuss my concern for the Fruit of the Loom operation in Donegal. The company executives gave me a strong commitment that they would maintain present employment levels in Ireland until at least the end of 1998. They also indicated that while Fruit of the Loom Inc. was optimistic about maintaining the level of employment after that, but given the increasing competition in world markets, made it difficult to predict further. I am fully conscious of the importance of the Irish operation to Donegal and to the north west region and the company has undertaken to keep in close contact with both my Department and IDA Ireland concerning its future plans.
