Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 3 Mar 1999

Vol. 501 No. 4

Written Answers. - Factory Closures.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

65 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the closure of a clothing company (details supplied) in Dublin's northside; if the agencies under her Department offered any assistance to this company to overcome its trading difficulties; the services, if any, she is making available to workers to support them in finding alternative employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6425/99]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

I am aware that the owners of Seale Clothing Ltd. informed Enterprise Ireland of their intention to sell the company as a going concern and that the agency has assisted them in their attempts to find a buyer by approaching several expanding companies on their behalf. However, as no buyer was forthcoming, the company has announced that it will cease trading on 22 April 1999.

Since 1994, grant aid has been paid to Seale Clothing Ltd. on a number of occasions, comprising mainly of capital, research and development grants and feasibility study grants. In addition, FÁS has paid training grants to the company in the past two years. These grants, which were under the training support scheme, enabled the company to appoint a consultant to bring staff skills up to European standards to assist the company's export drive.

However, in recent times, the company has, like many others in the sector, operated in an extremely volatile market and has been sensitive to low cost imports from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. Enterprise Ireland is working with these companies to try to minimise the impact of such pressures.

I understand that a FÁS placement services officer has been in touch with Seale Clothing Ltd., and will visit the company on Thursday, 4 March 1999 to fully brief the staff on the range of FÁS services available to them. These services include job referrals/job placement opportunities from the current FÁS job vacancy list, advice regarding FÁS courses relevant to future job aspirations, one-to-one interviews with placement officers on career planning, CV preparation, personal development, etc. and ongoing FÁS support through the FÁS self service job vacancy system.

The Irish Clothing Manufacturers Federation, ICMF, has expressed optimism for the re-employment of Seale Clothing Ltd. workers, pointing out that there are currently a large number of vacancies in the clothing industry in Dublin. In fact, Enterprise Ireland has already indicated that up to 20 of the workers may be employed by another company in the area which is currently recruiting experienced machinists.