The first two items relating to Foxtec will be taken together and each Deputy will have five minutes while the Minister will have ten minutes to reply.
Adjournment Debate. - Factory Closures.
Deputy Penrose and I each have five minutes and we wish to share our time with the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke.
Foxtec Ireland Limited opened in Mullingar in June 1999 with tremendous publicity. It was promised at that stage that 500 jobs would be created in Mullingar. We were all of the opinion that this would happen because Foxtec Ireland Limited was a subsidiary of the famous Hon Hai Precision Company of Taiwan. It was the first major Taiwanese investment in Ireland and great pomp and revelry accompanied the announcement. It is a major company, which is quoted on the Taiwanese stock exchange, and it was considered that Foxtec would be a major addition to Mullingar. The company was involved in the computer business and produced goods for the PC industry. Some of the companies it supplied included Dell and Apple. Up to 160 jobs were established at one stage, but, unfortunately, there was an announcement recently that Foxtec would close. There are currently 119 employees and we heard about the proposed closure with great sadness.
It is difficult for any of us to appreciate what it must be like to lose one's job. The Foxtec work force was dominated by women, some of whom had returned to the work force having reared their families. It was relatively easy to get employment there and shift work that suited family life was available. I am particularly sad for those workers. They made a tremendous effort to get back into the work force and they are now being turfed out of their jobs. It will also be a huge blow to their families because the women's economic input was most important. The closure is particularly sad for them given that it is the run up to Christmas.
It is important that a reasonable redundancy package is negotiated for the workers. I hope the Minister will be able to ensure that a reasonable package is put together for them. Some of those employed by an agency to do contract work in Foxtec have already been fixed up and that is great news for the small number of people involved. However, I hope something can be done for the other workers in Foxtec.
It is the third closure in Mullingar since 1988, which is very sad. Oxford Health Plans closed but, thankfully, it was replaced by GMAC relatively quickly. Tarkett also closed with the loss of more than 200 jobs. That was replaced by Foxtec which is now gone. This is sad for the people who worked there and it is bad for the economic base of the Mullingar area. Some 500 jobs have been lost in Westmeath in recent months, including in William Hill in Athlone, Foxtec in Mullingar, Ericsson's in Mullingar, Mallinckroyd in Athlone and Genesis in Mullingar. It is a sad litany. I ask the Government to establish a task force to try to find replacement industries. I hope the Minister will be able to confirm that such a task force will be set up in the hope of finding replacement jobs.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to share my time with my constituency colleague, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, who obviously is also concerned about this matter. Christmas is a particularly poignant time for families and the recent announcement by Foxtec Ireland Limited that it will close its factory with the loss of 119 jobs and that manufacturing operations will cease at the end of December dampened the usual joyous feeling associated with this time of year.
Foxtec has operated in Mullingar Business Park for more than two years. It was widely greeted as a partial replacement for the Tarkett factory, the closure of which was a body blow for employment in the region. Over the past two months, prior to the announcement of the closure of this important source of employment, there were persistent rumours that there would be lay-offs and that there was the possibility of closure. The announcement of the closure was one of seismic proportions, as it impacts not only on the employees but also on the wider community and the economic environment. When we think of the 119 employees we cannot but comprehend the human dimension to this announcement.
Many of the people concerned are married and have families of varying ages. For some, their job with Foxtec was the only source of income to help pay mortgages, loans and other financial commitments. Others workers included a number of women who had availed of the opportunity to return to the workforce and were delighted to have an opportunity to augment their income.
The closure of the plant is a major blow for each and every worker. There were a number of couples who earned the household income in this factory. One woman had six family members working in the company. It is widely known that for every job lost in a company of this magnitude about four people are directly affected, which means up to 500 people are paying the price for the closure of Foxtec.
We should recall that the closure of Foxtec is just one of a number of job losses experienced by workers across County Westmeath in the past two months or so. In October we had to raise the issue in the Dáil of the announcement by William Hill that it intended to close its call centre operation in Athlone with the loss of up to 300 jobs. In mid-November there were a number of employees laid off at Genesis Fine Arts and there have also been a number of redundancies at Ericsson in Athlone.
A factory of this nature and size generates many ancillary downstream jobs in sectors such as maintenance, haulage, contract cleaning and catering. An announcement of this nature in the run-up to Christmas is particularly poignant. This factory has employees not only from Mullingar town but also from Delvin, Ballynacargy, the Downs and Milltown and from as far away as Tullamore.
Now we must look to the future. There is a huge facility available, located centrally and with an excellent rail and road network available which means it is within one hour of Dublin and easy reach of our airports and seaports. There are excellent infrastructural facilities in close proximity. The town is an excellent location with a well developed infrastructure located in the Dublin corridor and boasting a highly skilled and educated workforce with a proven track record.
I am requesting the Minister to establish a task force comprising an inter-agency group to formulate an adequate response to the closure of Foxtec, and set about securing alternative job creating enterprises both from overseas and the indigenous sector. The factory is located in the BMW region and we expect IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to act immediately to secure new industries to locate in both Mullingar and Athlone to replace the significant number of jobs lost in both these major towns.
I thank my colleagues for raising this matter and the time afforded to me. I join them in raising the issue. I am speaking from the Government benches. I am a Cabinet Minister and proud and pleased about the record of employment created by the Government, in particular, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Tom Kitt and Noel Treacy, but share the worry and concern which the closure of Foxtec has engendered within the wider Mullingar area. I know quite well that being told that people's jobs are to disappear in a short length of time has a traumatic effect on the workers, their families and the wider community in which they live and their money is spent.
Regarding the closures mentioned in Athlone, William Hill closed because the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gordon Brown, MP, lifted the betting tax overnight and thus took away the advantage enjoyed by William Hill in establishing here. However, the IDA is working with all its might and mien to get a call centre to take over the existing facility lock, stock and barrel. I hope that will happen.
Equally, on the small number of redundancies at Ericsson, the company has given good quality employment in the town and provided social benefits for all its workers. I hope the upturn in the technology sector when it comes will enable the company to emerge again as the powerful force it is in Athlone's commercial life.
I share the Deputies' disappointment on the closure of Foxtec and know my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, does too. For a plant which opened less than two years ago to roll down its shutters and close is a huge disappointment for Mullingar, for the wider area to which Deputy Penrose referred and for all who watch the commercial life of County Westmeath.
I know the Minister and the Minister of State will be looking, as they have done in recent months, at how an inter-agency operation can help. In fact, Deputy McGrath cited the equation, that when one firm closed another opened immediately in the same premises. In that way, Tarkett was replaced by Foxtec.
The rest of all that, however, is the sad closure of Foxtec. We all remember the fine day we met there and the hopes we had for the future which have not been realised. I am sure, however, that the downturn will be followed by an upturn. That said, I will be speaking with my colleagues, the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Kitt, the Minister, Deputy Harney, and Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, to ensure a replacement industry is found for the Foxtec plant as quickly as possible.
I thank Deputies Penrose and McGrath and my colleague, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Deputy O'Rourke, for raising this subject tonight. The fact that three Deputies from the constituency spoke on the matter indicates its importance.
I share fully their concern and disappointment over the recent decision by Foxtec Engineering (Ireland) Limited to cease production at its Mullingar facility with the loss of 124 jobs. This company is a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Company Limited, trading as ‘Foxconn' Taipei, Taiwan – a global leader in mechanical solutions for the computer industry. It is the largest manufacturer of connectors for use in personal computers in Taiwan and a leading manufacturer of connectors and cable assemblies in the world. The company also manufactures enclosures, primarily for desktop PCs and PC servers.
I understand the parent company has made a decision to move its Irish production to China where labour costs are significantly cheaper, efficiencies are similar and the parent company has the capacity and modern equipment to supply customer needs. Assembly is a significant element of the process in Mullingar. The company closed an operation in the USA in July, supplying the same product and transferred manufacture to China.
Of the 124 people currently employed at the Mullingar facility, it will let go 15 moulding operatives in mid-December 2001, 90 assembly employees by the end of December and the remaining 19 administration, warehousing and maintenance staff by the end of February 2002.
Both the regional director and senior placement services officer of the FÁS midlands region met Foxtec Engineering (Ireland) Limited on 22 November 2001 to discuss the full range of support services it could offer the employees, including skills analysis, jobs placement, guidance and counselling interviews, identification of training needs and suitable training courses.
Recent positive developments in Mullingar include the announcement in January 2000 of the GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation project which has located in the Clonmore facility previously occupied by Oxford Health Plans. The project will operate a full commercial mortgage administration service and create 210 jobs. Currently it employs 94 people.
The expansion of Iralco in Collinstown, County Westmeath, manufacturer of decorative and functional trim for the automotive industry, was also announced in January 2000. The company has exceeded initial employment targets, employing 655 people to date. Further expansion is planned.
Other significant employers located in Mullingar are Penn Racquet Sports Limited employing 138 people and Taconic International employing 123.
The IDA, in recognising the need and importance of securing additional land in the Mullingar area, completed the purchase of a 68 acre site on the Mullingar bypass. Consultants have been appointed to develop the master plan for the proposed IDA Mullingar business and technology park on the site. Plans for 100,000 sq. ft. of state-of-the-art buildings will also be developed.
IDA Ireland is committed to securing 50% of all new greenfield jobs for the Border, midlands and western region, of which Mullingar is part. This involves doubling the proportion of greenfield jobs negotiated for these regions. In an effort to ensure the objective will be achieved, IDA Ireland initially reorganised its internal structures. This restructuring included allocation of additional staff to its regional offices and allocation of regional responsibilities to key executives in its HQ project divisions.
Up to one third of all IDA staff will now be based in the regions. The purpose of these moves is to drive growth from within the regions. Other initiatives include a greater focus on marketing of the regions for specific sectors and improvement of marketing material for the regions. IDA Ireland's incentive package is strongly geared in favour of the Objective One regions which is in line with the new EU state aid limits.
In all, IDA Ireland will have 95 staff across all its regional offices. The underlying purpose is to work in close partnership with the other State and local resources to create a drive from within the regions to pull foreign investment rather than the present approach of pushing for it from its Dublin headquarters.
Enterprise Ireland is working closely with its client companies and regional partners in developing and sustaining businesses in the area, enhancing the business environment, encouraging new start-up companies with strong growth potential and assisting Dublin based companies to locate their business expansions in the BMW region.
The full services of the agencies of my Department are available to respond to job losses and, in particular, to find alternative opportunities for workers affected by redundancies. FÁS is playing a very important role in both assessing and providing training and retraining for workers and has been very active in the midlands region. I am confident that the strenuous efforts being made by the development agencies will yield positive results on the industrial front for Mullingar and do not propose to establish a task force at this time.