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Job Losses

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 June 2021

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Ceisteanna (2)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Ceist:

2. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will meet the Deputies and local representatives representing Baldoyle to discuss the impending closure of two pharmaceutical companies and the efforts being made to prevent the closures or replace the jobs to be lost. [30029/21]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

The Tánaiste will be aware that there were two announcements in the Baldoyle area over the past six months that are to result in the loss of over 540 jobs. Will the Tánaiste work with local representatives to discuss this issue? What plans does his Department have to deal with this, to ensure there will be no further job losses in the Baldoyle area and to ensure that those affected by these announcements will get all the supports they need?

I thank the Deputy. I will be very happy to work with all the local representatives in the area and on a cross-party basis on this matter. If the Deputy has any helpful leads on investors interested in the sites, I would be very happy to explore them.

I thank the Deputy for his recent letter to me on job losses in the area. As I said in my reply on 20 May, I was very disappointed to hear that Teva plans to close its Sudocrem manufacturing plant in Baldoyle. Teva is an Israeli-based pharmaceutical company. The announcement came not long after the announcement by Viatris that it was going to close one of its Baldoyle operations. A primary concern, of course, is the workers and families affected by the news. While I understand that both plants will remain operational until the end of next year, the announcements are nonetheless a devastating blow for those affected, particularly those who have been working in the plants for decades.

My Department has agreed a job loss response protocol with the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Education. This protocol puts in place actions to assist workers, including in respect of welfare entitlements, job-search assistance, and upskilling needs or opportunities. Every State support will be made available when the time comes to help workers transition and find new employment opportunities. I understand the members of the Dublin mid-Leinster employer relations team have already engaged directly with Viatris to offer supports to staff being made redundant and they will be available to engage with Teva once a formal notification of redundancy has been received. It has not been to date.

IDA Ireland is working with both companies at both local and corporate level. The agency will continue to provide support over coming months, including reviewing opportunities in terms of skills and retraining, as well as possibilities for the future use of the sites. The fact that both companies will continue to operate until the end of 2022 provides time in which to seek alternative investment for the area.

Yesterday we initiated the process of developing a new regional enterprise plan for Dublin. The capital is internationally recognised as a leader in areas such as digital and Internet services, financial services, international education and life sciences. However, Covid-19 has had a really negative impact on some businesses, with the pandemic having a hollowing-out effect on the city centre especially. The plan will be tailored to the needs of Dublin, and will examine how we can help workers adapt and retrain for the jobs of the future.

I wrote to the Tánaiste a month ago seeking a meeting with all local representatives to discuss the situation in Baldoyle. In the past six months there have been two separate announcements of job losses, affecting more than 540 people. I wrote to him again to seek a meeting with our local representatives. Does the Tánaiste feel that our local representatives, Deputies from all parties, are part of the solution? We are, obviously, in daily contact with many of the people who are affected by this issue. We want to ensure that Baldoyle represents a viable investment opportunity in the future.

With two such announcements in a short period of time, the least I would have expected from the Tánaiste is that we would have had that meeting of all representatives. Two letters later and we are still no closer to that meeting. I again ask him to use the opportunity of this forum and this interaction with me to commit to having that meeting so that we can work together to avoid further job losses in Baldoyle and to ensure we get support for those affected by the job losses that have been announced.

If we can find a suitable time when all the public representatives from the area are available, I would be happy to do that. I have received a request from the Deputy, but just from him and not from all the representatives in the area. Certainly, if we can all agree a suitable time, I would be happy to speak to him about the issue. I do not know if he can be part of the solution, but if he has anything constructive to offer, such as investors he knows are interested or anything useful that I can pursue, I would be very happy to listen to that.

Obviously, in the meantime we are working, as we always do when there are job losses in an area, with the enterprise agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, to try to find an alternative employer for the site. We have been pretty successful at that in recent weeks and months as the Deputy will know. Within a few months of Aptar's closure in Ballinasloe, we were able to find Chanelle Pharma which is willing to invest in that and hire 60 people. That is the approach we generally take, working with the enterprise agencies to find alternative investors and alternative employment. If the Deputy can make any constructive contribution in any way, I would very much welcome it.

I welcome the Tánaiste's remarks and his commitment to having a meeting. He will appreciate that I might be a bit frustrated. In two letters from me over the course of a month, I did not get anywhere. Then in an oral exchange in this Chamber I have now got a commitment to a meeting. However, I will take that in good faith and we can certainly work together.

If two such announcements involving more than 540 job losses happened anywhere else in the State, I am sure that a slew of Ministers would be travelling to that location to say how hard they were working to ensure that there would be no further announcements and that they would give as much support as they possibly could to the workers affected. Some of the remarks made, particularly the Sudocrem announcement about the site in which it was operating, were particularly concerning. I hope the Tánaiste will appreciate that we are trying to protect the futures of the workers involved and also to ensure that the remarks made by the withdrawing companies will not be replicated in the coming period.

We are focusing on trying to find alternative employment for the people who work there. That is being led by the Department of Social Protection, Intreo and SOLAS offering skills. Under my remit, IDA Ireland is aware that these sites may become available next year and is exploring options for alternative investors and is engaging with both companies. As I have said, I am happy to have a meeting at a suitable time with the public representatives from the area. Again, I say to the Deputy if he has anything helpful or constructive he feels he could do, anything useful at all, to help to find alternative employment for the site, I would welcome that. Criticism is easy; a meaningful contribution is a bit tougher.

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