Vol. 535 No. 3
20 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans she has to counter job losses arising from recent closure of major industries; if her attention has been drawn to the likely domino effect of such closures on the economy; if she has contacted the parent firms involved with a view to reconsideration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12585/01]
71 Mr. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of redundancies or job losses notified to her Department during 2000 and to date in 2001; if her attention has been drawn to the particular problems of job losses in the technology sector; the measures she intends to take to deal with these losses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12182/01]
88 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has made the necessary financial and administrative provisions for training and retraining of workers who might be affected by recent business closures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12691/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 71 and 88 together.
A total of 13,316 redundancies were notified to my Department in 2000. A further 3,970 redundancies were notified in the first three months of 2001.
The manufacturing jobs which are particularly vulnerable in Ireland are those in relatively low skill areas, where openness to external competitiveness pressures is greatest. Many of the recently announced major job losses in overseas-owned plants in Ireland arise from restructuring, with activities at the lower end of the value-added chain being phased out as they become uneconomic.
The focus of our efforts to limit job losses will continue to be towards helping indigenous companies improve their competitive position in global markets, and encouraging foreign-owned firms to become more deeply embedded in the Irish economy.
While there have been some job losses in the information technology related sectors, overall our base of companies in this sector is relatively young and focused on higher value products, often incorporating functions, such as customer-technical support, software development and logistics, which make them less vulnerable.
The State development agencies have ongoing contact with companies experiencing difficulties, including, where appropriate, contact by myself and the agencies with parent companies.
In cases where job losses occur, the various State agencies will continue to work closely with all the interests involved with a view to attracting replacement projects and expanding existing businesses.
In addition FÁS provides a range of training and retraining courses, and placement facilities for people affected by closures and arrangements are in place to ensure that its support structures move in rapidly and systematically in instances where major lay-offs occur.
