For some time now, we in Dungarvan have been worried about the future of our two American factories which belong to multinational companies. A series of mergers and buy-outs has caused this worry. The original Smith Kline Beecham company merged late last year with another pharmaceutical giant, Glaxo Wellcome, to form the conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline. Just down the road we have the Stafford Miller branch of another multinational. The owners of this group, the Bloch family, let it be known last year that they were anxious to sell their enterprise worldwide
The Stafford Miller international operation, which manufacturer the toothpaste, Sensodyne, and other dental products, was by pure coincidence purchased by GlaxoSmithKline. We had, therefore, two multinationals merging within a few hundred yards of each other. Obviously we were apprehensive about developments. We feared that as a result of these changes there might be some form of rationalisation in one of the plants in Dungarvan and so it transpired last Thursday with the announcement that the operations of the Dungarvan branch of the Stafford Miller company would be transferred to Maidenhead in England with the loss of 104 jobs.
Please note that there has always been a first class working relationship between workers and management at the factory and that the lay-offs are due to what the principals described as the restructuring of their operations. There have not been industrial problems at the factory in question and certainly no disputes.
Dungarvan is the county town of Waterford. It has its own industrial base which was dependent on four factories, two of which I have mentioned, GlaxoSmithKline and Stafford Miller. Waterford Glass or, as it is known locally, Dungarvan Crystal, is the third and the fourth is Waterford Foods. However, two years ago the town suffered a very serious blow when the indigenous industry of Waterford Foods closed down with the loss of 400 jobs. This is the most established industry in the town. Between those 400 job losses and the 104 in Stafford Miller, we have lost more than 500 jobs, which is a great deal in a relatively small provincial town.
I ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, in conjunction with IDA Ireland, to direct her efforts towards the establishment of new industry in Dungarvan, be it one large scale factory or a series of smaller units. IDA Ireland has a 36 acre land bank in the town and with the construction of the state-of-the-art Waterford treatment plant imminent, the site will be suitable for a wide range of industries. It would also be appreciated if the Minister would agree to meet the four Deputies from the Waterford constituency in the next few days to discuss the problems arising from this setback in the town bearing in mind the comments she made over the weekend regarding the job losses at Stafford Miller.
When questioned about the announcement last Thursday the Tánaiste commented that the news was a particular blow to an area of the State that had not fared as well as others in attracting new industries. That statement speaks for itself. The Tánaiste is aware that we suffered a massive loss when Waterford Foods closed down. We now have an additional loss. IDA Ireland and other State agencies have not been successful in attracting new industries to the town. The Tánaiste has acknowledged that and I ask that she meets us and IDA Ireland immediately to discuss the problem and try to rectify it as soon as possible.