Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 8 May 2003

Vol. 566 No. 2

Written Answers. - Job Losses.

Michael D. Higgins

Ceist:

33 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of redundancies notified to her Department during 2000 to date; the steps being taken to deal with the sharp increase in redundancies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12269/03]

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Ceist:

62 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the fears expressed by ISME that up to 20,000 industrial jobs could be lost before the end of 2003; her views on these fears; the steps being taken to prevent such job losses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12274/03]

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 33 and 62 together.

The number of redundancies notified to my Department in the years mentioned by Deputy Higgins are 13,316 in 2000, 19,977 in 2001, 25,358 in 2002 and 8,136 up to the end of April this year. I am aware of the concerns on job losses expressed by ISME.

It is interesting that the number of redundancies, 8,136, notified in the first four months of this year shows a small reduction on the figure, 8,270, for the same period last year. I hope that the economic downturn may be beginning to level off. I am encouraged in this view by my experience during a recent industrial promotion visit to the US where I saw signs of a return of business confidence and a belief that the corner had been turned. A recovery in the US economy is crucial for an upturn in the Irish and global economies.

It is imperative that we are in a position to avail of the opportunities presented by global economic recovery. I have stressed on several occasions the threats we face from a loss of economic competitiveness on a number of fronts; we will continue, in co-operation with the social partners, to address the competitiveness issues. At the same time the industrial development agencies will continue to work with companies, with a view to maintaining existing employment and developing new job creation opportunities, particularly employment with a high value-added content.