I am aware of the decision by the company in question to close its plant in Bray, County Wicklow. I understand that the reason for the closure is that the company believes that the Bray plant is no longer viable due to changed customer demands, rising costs, increased competition and trading losses which could no longer be sustained. Finding alternative employment for the workers affected is a priority for the industrial development agencies. Already, FÁS has contacted the company and outlined the full range of support services, including skills analysis and training that it can provide to the staff.
The development agencies continue to market and promote Bray and the surrounding area for employment creation and investment. IDA Ireland continues to work with its existing base of companies with a view to supporting such companies with potential expansions and the agency also targets potential new investment projects. Nabi, a new greenfield Biopharma project from the United States, was officially opened on 26 April 2005 at the IDA business park in Bray and is expected to employ in the region of 30 to 40 people by the end of 2006.
Enterprise Ireland continues to work with its client companies in Bray in order to assist them to become more competitive in order to increase export sales, resulting in further job creation in the area. Between 2002 and 2004, 35 EI client companies based in Bray were approved €2.8 million in financial support from the agency to help these firms to grow sales, exports and employment and also to fund their plans for innovation and new product development. There are a number of Enterprise Ireland supported companies in the Bray region that are actively growing their businesses.
The State development agencies, under the aegis of my Department, will continue to promote the Bray area for enterprise development and investment. According to the most recent Central Statistics Office live register analysis figures, there were 1,855 people on the live register in Bray in April 2005 down from 1,927 in April 2004, a decrease of 72. For County Wicklow, the corresponding figures were 4,432 people in April 2005, down from 4,540 in April 2004, a decrease of 108. While the live register is not designed to measure unemployment, I am encouraged by these figures as they reflect a falling trend in our standardised unemployment rate, which fell to 4.2% in April 2005.