On 8 November 1998 the Bausch and Lomb company in Waterford, a considerable company employing 1,400 people, decided to sell off its subsidiary plant known as Ray Ban, which manufactures sunglasses – it was described in a Minister's reply to me at that time as a premium fashion eye wear business – to an Italian company, Luxottica. Since November 1998 the number of jobs at the Ray Ban enterprise has decreased from 350 to 95 – last week the company announced it was divesting itself of a further 165 jobs, which will reduce the number of staff to 95. There had been an erosion of the employment level in the interim although, I understand, an assurance was given at the time of the purchase that the operation would be kept going. The company pledged its allegiance and commitment to Waterford in November 1998 and again as late as November 1999 when the 165 members of staff were put on short time. Short time did not come about but the redundancies did and that was much more critical.
The employment position in Waterford city is dire. I wish to draw to the Minister's attention that there are 3,372 on the live register in Waterford, which represents 14% of the workforce, virtually three times the national average. People ask what the Government and the IDA are doing about it. An IDA office which was located in Waterford up to three years ago moved to Cork. We were told it was for the betterment of Waterford that it would be a more efficient office and would have much stronger personnel. Our experience has been quite the contrary. We have not had any new industries in Waterford city in recent years. Any increase in employment has been due to expansion of existing industries, such as Bausch and Lomb. The people of Waterford would like to know when Waterford will get new industries. Can any of the jobs in the Ray Ban division be preserved? Can the IDA persuade the Italian company, Luxottica, to remain in Waterford in considerable force? What remains is an operation called lens edging, which I do not fully understand. There is a view that this may be the end of the road for the factory in its entirety.
Promises have not been kept over the past 15 months. People have become sceptical about the future because the plant involved was highly cost effective and was brand new. It is difficult to believe it was not good enough to compete with a similar plant in Italy, America or elsewhere.
I ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to take an interest in west Waterford and, in particular, to look at what has happened in the town of Tallow where there was an industry called Flair Plastics Limited which is virtually on the point of closure. Some 80 people were employed there until 18 months ago, now a mere five people are looking after the stock and the premises. Will the Minister, Deputy McDaid, make a note for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who is not present, about the situation in Tallow which is an underprivileged area where unemployment is rife. Perhaps the IDA would put its resources at the disposal of the people of Tallow where there are a number of small enterprises which would like to use the factory that was at the disposal of Flair Plastics Limited. If Flair Plastics Limited cannot continue, perhaps others in the locality could be given the opportunity to use the premises in a manner which is conducive to employment.
