Vol. 576 No. 5
62 Mr. Howlin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs created in each case to date in respect of the series of job announcements made by her on 18 April 2002 in respect of Galway, Limerick and Birr; when it is expected that the balance of the jobs will be created; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30020/03]
On 18 April, 2002, I announced that Churchill Insurance Group plc, UK was to create 600 new jobs in Galway over the next five years. This facility, a customer interaction centre, was necessary to support current and future growth of Churchill's insurance business in the UK market, which consists mainly of household and motor insurance. The company currently employs about 130 people in the Galway facility.
On 18 April 2002, I also announced that Thomson NETg, one of the world's leading providers of learning solutions to the corporate and academic markets, was to expand its e-learning product development and innovation centre operation in Limerick with the creation of 360 new jobs, bringing total employment at Thomson NETg in Ireland to 700 by the end of 2005. As part of the proposed expansion, the company agreed with IDA Ireland that up to 80 of the new jobs announced in April 2002 would be located in Birr, County Offaly. However, the company subsequently decided to postpone its expansion plans and indicated that it would not undertake the establishment of an operation in Birr due to the adverse economic climate, particularly in the e-learning sector.
On 19 November 2003, NETg announced that, as part of an ongoing assessment and reorganisation of its global business operations, a decision had been made to consolidate its global product development activity in Naperville, Illinois, USA. As a result of this decision, the company's product development facility in Limerick will cease operations with the loss of 173 jobs. The plant is expected to close in March 2004.
It is understood that the Limerick closure decision was only taken after considerable examination of the corporate structure and a review of options. The group is operating in an increasingly challenging IT environment which necessitated taking measures in order to align the cost base with revenue. The availability of the Limerick facility for a new project will be marketed strongly by IDA Ireland in co-operation with NETg. FÁS has already been in contact with the company and offered its range of training, job placement and other services to workers affected by the proposed closure.
I am taken by the tone of the Tánaiste's response to this question and the previous one from Deputy Hogan. She is positively hurt by the suggestion that electioneering could have been contributory to the timing of these announcements. In that context, why did the Tánaiste attribute the name "golden Thursday" to this series of job announcements made at the edge of the general election campaign?
What did she say to her colleague, Deputy Parlon, when he was the Progressive Democrats candidate in Laois-Offaly and announced at the time: "I am different, I deliver" and campaigned on that basis? If the Minister of State's delivery of decentralisation matches his delivery of jobs to Birr, there is no hope of any civil servants moving out of this town.
"Hurt" may be too strong a word. I understand politics, therefore to describe me as being hurt would be a gross exaggeration. I refute any suggestion that this State was picked because of the run in to the general election. The IDA, in conjunction with the companies, asked me to announce these company expansions on that day. I did not go after the IDA looking for projects out of the bag to announce in the run up to the election.
Like other Deputies, if one wants to survive in this business, one needs to deliver to one's constituents in whatever form that takes. That applies to the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon.
Does that mean empty promises?
They are not empty promises. I opened a technology centre in Birr a couple of months ago. A great deal is happening in the town as there is elsewhere, about which we should be proud. International companies respond to international circumstances. I could give the Deputy a long list of companies about which we made announcements in regard to the creation of 200 or 300 jobs, which subsequently became 500 and 600 jobs. As Deputy Howlin knows, having sat at the Cabinet table, the job approval figure is always substantially higher than the job announcement figure in order that people are not accused of exaggerating the positives.
Of the 1,300 jobs announced on "golden Thursday", how many have materialised, discounting the 173 which were lost in Thomson NETg? The Tánaiste referred to a protocol dealing with job announcements during a general election. Will she read that protocol into the record?
The protocol has existed for some time. It was in place during the reign of the previous Government and perhaps the one before that. After an election is called, no job announcements through the IDA or Enterprise Ireland should be made by Departments. People have been asked to respect that protocol and have done so for a number of years.
Of the 960 jobs I announced, 130 have been created in Churchill in Galway. The Thomson NETg jobs are not proceeding. The Churchill jobs accounted for 600 of the 960. The remaining 360 were the NETg jobs, but they are not proceeding and the existing jobs in Limerick will unfortunately be lost.
What about the announcement of the 300 Elan jobs?
