I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to the House. The loss of its last manufacturing plant is a bad blow for Carrick-on-Suir, which is a medium-sized provincial town. There are other manufacturing plants not too far from the town, but I am talking about the town itself. SRAM Ireland, which manufactures bicycle components, announced earlier this week that it intends to discontinue its assembly and distribution operations at Carrick-on-Suir. The company probably located in the town in the first instance because a famous cyclist, Mr. Seán Kelly, is a native of the locality. A total of 53 jobs — 31 permanent and 22 temporary — will be lost as a result of SRAM Ireland's decision. I understand that 11 employees who are involved in co-ordinating operations will move to Waterford.
Carrick-on-Suir, which is a RAPID town, has an unemployment rate of 14%, which is well above the national average of just over 4%. I do not want to paint too bleak a picture of towns like Carrick-on-Suir, which have seen a great deal of progress. Similar problems were faced in Tipperary approximately three years ago, when Pall Corporation announced it was dispensing with approximately two thirds of its operation. We know from experience that it is not easy to replace manufacturing jobs in such locations, unfortunately.
The industrial development agencies should reconsider their approach to certain towns. Circumstances have changed in the past three years as the populations of towns like Carrick-on-Suir and Tipperary have grown quite rapidly and their infrastructure has improved. Both towns are on the railway line between Limerick and Waterford. Carrick-on-Suir is quite close to Waterford, just as Tipperary is quite close to Limerick and the rest of the Shannon region.
South Tipperary County Council recently announced that it plans to develop some industrial units on recently acquired IDA Ireland lands. The Mill River business park in Carrick-on-Suir is quite vibrant. It has been suggested that Treasury Holdings has a long-term plan of conducting some major development in the Carrick-on-Suir area, just across the border in County Kilkenny, but no final decision has been taken on the matter.
I would like the Minister of State to outline the plans of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the agencies for which he is responsible to assist those who will be most affected by the closure of SRAM Ireland. What other employment possibilities exist for them? IDA Ireland and Forfás should be encouraged to look again at towns which one fears they might almost have written off. There are a number of industrial plants in Cashel, for example, which is smaller than both Carrick-on-Suir and Tipperary. There is nothing inherently implausible about attracting employment to such places, particularly as our cities become more congested. Places like Carrick-on-Suir with unemployment well above the national average deserve the particular attention of the Government. There was a political consensus in the county that Carrick-on-Suir should be considered along with Tipperary town for decentralisation. Obviously decentralisation would not help directly those involved in the SRAM closure but it would help build up the town further. Towns of that size should be looked at again from the point of view of promoting them as they have become much more attractive because of Government investment in schooling, sports facilities, cultural facilities and the growth of housing around them.
