TEVA is cutting 315 jobs in Waterford

Workers at one of the biggest pharmaceutical factories in Waterford have been told today that 315 of the currently 730 jobs at the plant will be cut within the next 12 months.

TEVA (photo), which is now owned by an Israeli financial consortium and was formally known under the name IVAX, is located at the IDA Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Waterford and manufactures inhalers and tablets.

In a surprise meeting, which had been announced only yesterday evening, the workers and their trade union representatives were informed this morning by the company's management that the tablet production at the factory will cease within 12 months. A part of the manufacturing process will be transferred from Waterford to a factory in Hungary, where wages are about a quarter of current Irish payment levels.

The announced redundancies will be a mixture of voluntary and compulsory, but details of packages have not yet been released.

More Jobs in Danger

Speaking about the job losses, Matt Moran of PharmaChemical Ireland, an umbrella body for the pharmaceutical industry in this country, stated that between 500 and 1000 similar jobs could be "vulnerable".

He said that the cost base for manufacturers in Ireland has risen, and that producing generic pharmaceuticals which are off patent is very susceptible to competitive pressure.

The manufacturing of generic pharmaceuticals represents between 5% and 10 % of the sector's production in Ireland.

Elsewhere, the multinational eye-care company Bausch & Lomb has announced that 500 jobs are to go at its facility in Livingston in Scotland, a move which may help safeguard the remaining 1100 Bausch & Lomb jobs in Waterford.

The company said that as part of a restructuring process, approximately 30 new positions will be created in Rochester in the USA during 2010, but there will be no employment increase in Waterford.

Ireland relies too much on foreign Companies

Once again, many Irish jobs that people might have considered as safe not so long ago are to be lost or potentially in danger. And once again they all are in foreign-owned companies.

Readers of this weblog will be well aware that I am no simple-minded nationalist who praises everything Irish and is suspicious of foreigners. In fact, I am quite an internationalist myself. But I am nevertheless of the opinion that we do have too many Irish jobs that depend on foreign money and investment.
For decades the IDA has always been looking for the big money from abroad, predominantly from the USA. Many US multi-national companies have come to Ireland and employed many Irish people. But a lot of them closed again and left Ireland after a few years, usually when their preferential tax regime ran out. Others have just disappeared without trace, and some others (like DELL in Limerick, and now TEVA in Waterford) are moving a large part of their production to low-wage countries.

Had the IDA spent the vast sums of money it threw - and still throws - at US and other foreign companies on the development of an indigenous Irish industry, we all would be a lot better off.
It is well-known that - especially during a recession - the vast majority of companies will rather cut their workforce abroad, while protecting jobs in their country of origin.

We need a new approach and a complete overhaul of the Irish economy, with much more industries owned and controlled by Irish businessmen and investors. Only then will we be able to create a new stability.
As things are at present in Ireland - and have been for many decades - our economy is neither developed nor independent. The large percentage of foreign-owned companies creates actually a situation of limited economic sovereignty, which has a direct negative influence also on our national (political) sovereignty.

And this time we cannot blame the Irish situation on foreign invaders like the Normans or the English. The mess we are in is of our own making, created over decades by a succession of Irish governments and state agencies like the IDA, who care more for foreign investments than for our own nation's status, competitiveness and stability.

Only a complete change of attitude, combined with serious investment of Irish money in Irish industries, can change our economy for the better.

The Emerald Islander

More Jobs to be lost in Waterford

More industrial jobs will soon be lost in Waterford City.

The workers at the well-known and long-established Waterford factory of the international electrical components company ABB learned this morning that the plant will be closed at the end of March 2010, with the loss of all 178 jobs.

The company, which manufactures distribution transformers for the construction and utility markets in Ireland and the UK, says that it is closing "because of significantly lower orders and lack of potential business".

ABB (Asia-Brown-Boveri) is a well-known and stable European firm, owned mainly by Swiss and Swedish investors.
At five different locations in Ireland the company employs currently more than 400 people.

The Waterford factory, which has been in operation since 1951, has always been seen as a key element to ABB's Irish business. With its closure next Spring, the long-term presence of the firm in Ireland looks doubtful.

It is quite likely that in the current world-wide recession the management will concentrate their efforts on their main countries of interest, which are Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.

The Emerald Islander

Intel Staff Meetings over Redundancies

Today the management of Intel (Ireland) Ltd. held meetings with staff members who have volunteered to take redundancy.
In February the US company, which is the world's leading manufacturer of computer chips, announced plans to cut "up to 300 jobs" at their Irish main production facility in Leixlip, County Kildare through a voluntary redundancy programme, which is part of a worldwide cost-cutting plan.

The company indicated that the jobs would go before June of this year, but a definite time-scale has not been announced. It is also not known how many of Intel's staff members have applied for voluntary redundancy.

Employees interested in availing of the programme have made applications to the management over the past few months, and today they found out who will stay and who will go.
One-to-one meetings between line managers and staff began early this morning and went on for most of the day.

Implementing their global cost-cutting plan, Intel has shed already thousands of jobs this year and manufacturing plants in China, Malaysia and the Philippines have been closed.

Intel employs currently more than 5000 people in Ireland and is one of the most important high-technology companies in the country.

The Emerald Islander

New ESRI Study reveals Discrimination against People with non-Irish Names

A recent study has found clear evidence of discrimination by Irish employers against people with non-Irish names.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Dublin conducted this new research into the treatment of Irish and non-Irish job applicants.

As part of the study the researchers sent out 500 CVs in response to job advertisements.
Pairs of CVs with matching details but different names were sent in response to 250 jobs ads.
The two fictitious applicants for each job had identical qualifications, skills and experience. But those with common Irish surnames were more than twice as likely to be called for an interview than people with foreign sounding names.

According to the ESRI's team of researchers, the level of discrimination revealed in Ireland is high, compared to other countries.

Richard Fallon from the Equality Authority said that the findings point to "a needless loss of opportunity" if employers do not look at the skills behind names on job applications.

What the ESRI found out by sending fictitious job applications to Irish employers is no news to me. As my father was from Belgium, I have a surname that looks 'foreign' to most Irish people. And I have experienced discrimination by Irish individuals and institutions over many years.

Employers are only one element of the spectrum. Government offices, TDs, local authorities and their various sub-offices as well as individuals have treated me less favourable than friends and neighbours with typical Irish surnames. And it is still going on.
Almost every day the question I am asked most often by Irish people, after I introduce myself, is: "Where do you come from?"
No-one called Brennan, Hayes, Murphy, O'Neill or Ryan - to mention but five of the typical Irish names - will ever be asked such a question.

But this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In the past I was refused benefits to which I was entitled like anyone else, my name disappeared mysteriously from lists on which it had been put in my presence, and it happens ever so often that some weird people simply abuse me verbally for being 'foreign', without any particular reason.

Among my friends and acquaintances are several individuals with 'foreign' names, and they had and have similar experiences as I do. An interesting example are two couples I know rather well. In both cases one of the partners is Irish and the other foreign, and they live in the same area of the same Irish town.
The Irish wife of my Austrian friend does experience more discrimination than the German wife of an Irish friend. So - just as the ESRI found out in their study - surnames do play a role in this.
I wonder if this only goes for obviously non-Irish surnames, or also for foreign names that came into Ireland in the past with various waves of migration, such as the Normans or the Huguenots.

But there is another element in regard to job applications that annoys me immensely. Every week thousands of people in Ireland answer job ads and send applications to companies, public offices and organisations. And only very few of them ever receive a reply. This, in my opinion, is rude, arrogant and uncivilised.

In several other EU countries there are rules (and even laws) that entitle any job applicant to a reply, and if it is only a three-line letter saying that the application is not successful. Thus people know where they stand and are treated fair and humanely.
In Ireland there are no rules, so most people never hear anything from potential employers they wrote to. They never know if their letters were actually received and read, and if so, why their job applications did not succeed. This should no longer be tolerated.
And if it needs a new law - in case employers' organisations are unwilling to introduce the matter as a common rule to their members - then we should have it.

The Emerald Islander

The Government is really a travelling Circus

Since Monday's strange incident, when a door fell off an Aer Corps helicopter in mid-flight over Co. Kerry (see my entries of March 2nd & 3rd), the eyes of many Irish people have been opened to the strange and scandalous travel habits of our government ministers.

It appears that Martin Cullen's extravagant helicopter trip from Waterford to Dublin via Killarney, which cost the taxpayers at least € 8130 and created additional costs of around € 35,000, was not at all unusual. Most of our ministers are using the Aer Corps' aircraft regularly for all sorts of trips and don't mind what it costs, because for them it is all free.
In fact, our government has become a real travelling circus, with each minister trying to out-do the others in extravagancy and waste of taxpayers' money.

But since Monday the nation is aware of that and has shown remarkable feats of vigilance and observation.

It has been reported - and meanwhile confirmed by a government spokesperson - that the Tánaiste (Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister) Mary Coughlan (photo), who is also Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, took a flight in one of the government's two main jet aircraft from Dublin to Shannon last Friday.
There she was met by her ministerial Mercedes car, which her Garda chauffeur had brought empty from the capital to Shannon earlier.
Coughlan, who is Ireland's answer to Sarah Palin and nicknamed 'The Cow', was driven over a very short distance from the airport to a nearby industrial estate, where she officially announced the creation of a few new jobs.

Not that this will make any difference to our current recession, as unemployment in Ireland has just risen to a record 10.2%. But the government is now so beleaguered and desperate that every single new job is announced with pomp and circumstances (while job losses are treated rather with a deafening silence).

After a brief stay at the industrial estate, and having performed her PR job as bland as usual, the Tánaiste was driven back to Shannon airport, where she boarded the government jet again and returned to Dublin Airport. There presumably a second state Mercedes was waiting for her, and the one used at Shannon was driven back to the capital, once again empty.

What this bizarre escapade has cost the taxpayers could not be specified at this time, but using the government jet alone for a single flight creates expenses in the range of € 25,000 to 30,000.
At least that was the information received when the same jet was used last year to transport the Taoiseach and three of his ministers - Willie O'Dea (Defence), Batt O'Keeffe (Education) and the ever-present Martin Cullen (Arts, Sport & Tourism) - from Dublin to Shannon. They were then driven in two state cars to Limerick, to watch a Rugby match.

If the government, which keeps telling us now on a daily basis that "we have no money" and that "we all will have to make sacrifices", would be serious, these extravagant journeys would cease. As Ireland is a small country, most places can be reached by car in acceptable times. And when a flight is really necessary, local transport at the airport of arrival could and should be used.

But there is an even better - and much cheaper - way to handle ministerial addresses, speeches and announcements. After all, we live in the 21st century and modern communication technology is available to every government department.
Instead of having ministers rushing around the country like a travelling circus in order to give a string of usually boring speeches to equally boring gatherings of all kinds, these addresses could be given by video link from the minister's office.
This would cost a small fraction of the amount clocked up each year by ministerial journeys. The same message would get across, and the government would also be seen as being serious when it comes to saving money. On top of that it would also show the government as a modern entity that can and does use the latest available technology.

There is no need to provide a separate state car - each with a Garda as full-time chauffeur - for every minister and junior minister. In most of the other EU countries - many much larger than Ireland - there is a government motor pool with a limited amount of cars, which are shared by all ministers. Ireland should follow those examples.

But so far there seems to be no will to reduce the lavish travelling circus. While ordinary people are going to face ever higher taxes and levies, the government continues to behave like a bunch of medieval princes.

Meanwhile another - and even more bizarre - case has been reported. According to information received by Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ a ministerial car and its driver were used for the purpose of transporting a minister's private dog over a distance of 250 miles. This apparently occured "during the Christmas holidays" and it has not yet been established which minister was responsible. (But given the current political climate and public mood, it might well be revealed soon. If so, I will of course tell you.)

However, the attitude alone speaks for itself. And so does an official statement, issued today by the Department of Justice. It says plainly that "any minister is free to do with the official state car whatever he - or she - likes".
On that basis one has to presume that the government's official fox is in charge of the nation's hen houses...

The Emerald Islander

Public Transport in Ireland deteriorates further as Bus Éireann implements Dempsey's Job Cuts

Bus Éireann, the national bus company and backbone of public transport in Ireland, is to cut 320 jobs, and its bus fleet will be reduced by 150 vehicles.
This decision of the company's management was conveyed to its 2700 employees earlier today.

Bus Éireann also outlined a 'cost effectiveness plan' with measures it says are "necessary to ensure its success in a very challenging economic environment".
In addition to the job cuts and reduction in its fleet, the plan also includes a pay freeze up to the end of 2009 as well as the deferring of payment of the terms of the Towards 2016 agreement.

In 2007 Bus Éireann made a profit of € 7 million, but last year it had losses of € 9 million, and that figure was projected to reach € 30 million in 2009.
The company says that "the unprecedented economic downturn" led to a 4% decrease in Bus Éireann customer numbers in 2008. It estimates that there will be a further 5% to 6% fall in passenger numbers in 2009.

Bus Éireann says it hopes that savings from the plan "will restore the company to a strong financial position" by the end of 2010.
This is, however, at best very optimistic and more likely completely unrealistic. How can one expect a consolidation of one's business with increased passenger numbers and solid profit when the number and quality of services is reduced, while the fares are rising at the same time? One really wonders on what planet the managers of Bus Éireann and its parent company CIÉ live...

Last week, Dublin Bus announced 290 job losses as part of a series of cost-cutting measures, which include also withdrawing 120 city buses, which is 10% of its fleet.
It said no routes will be removed, but some services would be "amalgamated" and that the frequency of buses would be "adjusted" in some areas.
Well, this is the same concept as in Bus Éireann, the idea that one can earn more money by offering less service for more money.

There is no vision of the future, no inspiration and no sense for reality in CIÉ, the state-owned transport company that acts as umbrella for Iarnród Éireann (Irish Railways), Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus. And since the company is directly controlled - and systematically wrecked - by the Department of Transport, there is not much leeway for new ideas, even if they had them.

Noel Dempsey (right), currently the Minister for Transport, has so far left every department he ran in a complete mess, and he will make no exception with Transport.
The job cuts and reductions of transport services and vehicles is his idea (see my entry of December 17th, 2008) and he does not care the slightest what this disastrous mismanagement does to the country and to the many users of public transport. Dempsey moves around the country in a chauffeur-driven huge Mercedes and lives like a king. He has no idea what it means to travel on an over-crowed bus that runs 30-40 minutes behind schedule...

I wonder if the employees of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus will have the guts to fight the announced job cuts, or if they let them just happen while more than 10% of their colleagues are shoved off onto the dole.
Now is the time to stand up and be counted. If you don't, you will be counted out and gone for good...

The Emerald Islander

Another Company withdraws from Ireland

News of job losses, companies closing or foreign enterprises withdrawing from Ireland are now a daily occurrence. So some might not even follow those announcements with great attention, as a gloomy mood of apathy besets the nation, which is now officially in recession.

But it is very important to take notice of each piece of news - bad or good - so we can understand what is going on, where the economy is heading and what our political leaders are doing - or not doing - to stabilise the country and lead us into a prosperous and secure future.

Today another company announced that it will cease to work in Ireland. Enterprise Managed Services Ltd., which currently employ 200 people here and carried out maintenance on the network of Bord Gáis (Ireland's largest supplier of natural gas), has decided to leave the Irish market, putting more than 100 jobs at risk.
Negotiations are continuing in an attempt to ensure that some of the jobs are retained by a new contractor.

In a statement Bord Gáis said:

Enterprise Managed Services Ltd., the company contracted to carry out maintenance and development work on the Bord Gáis network in the eastern region, has confirmed that it has made a strategic decision to exit the Irish market. Consultation between Enterprise and trade unions has commenced with respect to Enterprise employees. The Bord Gáis maintenance contract will transfer to a new contractor on October 24th, 2008.
In the transition period, Bord Gáis and Enterprise will work closely together to ensure a smooth and effective transfer of operation and the continuous and safe supply of natural gas to customers.
Bord Gáis will continue to ensure that the natural gas network is operated and maintained to the highest international safety standards at all times and that customer service expectations will continue to be met.

221 Jobs Losses as Kilkenny Mine closes

Only one day after nearly 500 job losses were announced in Cork (see yesterday's entry below), there is further bad news on the Irish job front from Co. Kilkenny. They might have Ireland's best hurlers there, but as the area is predominantly rural and not well developed, jobs are hard to find, especially for people with a lower standard of education.

So today's announcement that the Galmoy Mines (photo) in the north of Co. Kilkenny are closing in a phased process from December onwards is another blow for the battered Irish economy and especially for the local people.
The mines are owned by a Canadian company, which took over from Arcon some years ago. 221 jobs will be lost, and there is no other business in the area that could absorb these workers.

Talks between SIPTU (Ireland's largest trade union) and the management of Galmoy went on through the night, after which it emerged that the company will end its operations completely within two years.

Dennis Hynes, SIPTU's branch organiser in Kilkenny, said the decision to close the mine was based on fuel and shipping costs.

However, the Chief Executive of Galmoy, Stefan Masson, stated that the closure is largely due to the fact that the mine will be exhausted by 2011.
He said the news would not come as a shock to staff, as redundancies were part of an expected wind-down process.

A main concern - Mr. Hynes said - was that if zinc dropped in price, and oil prices went up, Galmoy Mines might even close sooner than 2011.
The impact of the closure would extend beyond the 221 workers losing their jobs, right into the whole local community.
"There are a lot of businesses, small businesses, people that have contracts in and out of Galmoy, who are going to be affected by this as well," he added. "It's going to have a huge impact on the area and it's a big, big loss."

Nearly 500 Jobs will be lost in Cork

Today the large international company Tyco Safety Products announced the closure of its factory in Cork with a loss of 320 jobs over the next twelve months.

The manufacturing division at its site in Bishopstown, an area in the western part of Cork city, will be moved to another country, where wages are lower than in Ireland.

The factory, which produces - amongst other things - fire detection devices and security tagging items for shops, was set up in the early 1980s under the name Sensormatic.

Before a meeting this morning, workers knew that the company planned a reduction of personnel, so job losses were expected. But they were not sure of how many. Only yesterday there had been talk of about 200 redundancies. So today's announcement came as a shock to many employees, who will find it difficult to get a similar job in Cork in the current economical recession.

Tyco says it will provide severance packages and outplacement services for all 320 workers being laid off. It will retain only a skeleton staff of 20 in its shared services centre, which will remain in Cork for the time being.

The company acknowledged that great efforts had been made by employees in Cork to lower operating costs, but it was not enough and manufacturing operations were being moved abroad now. Until recently, the Cork branch of this very large and prosperous international business was highly profitable and it is not clear what caused the sudden change. Union representatives said that there was nothing wrong in Bishops town and work was done as usual. But they think that the low-wage economies in Asia are luring more and more companies away, in particular multi-national US giants like Tyco, who have no roots here and no cultural links with Ireland.

Other branches of the international Tyco conglomerate which operate in Ireland are so far not affected by the closure of the Cork operation.

Earlier this week it emerged that another 150 jobs in Cork are at risk, as the manufacturing company Swissco also plans a scaling down of its operations. Should this information turn out to be correct as well, it would mean a loss of nearly 500 jobs in Ireland's second-largest city. Hard times lie ahead for those affected, their families and the local economy in general.

Once again it is evident that the long-standing policy of the IDA and the Irish government to attract foreign - and especially American - companies to Ireland by giving them favourable conditions and generous tax exemptions does not work on the long run. These companies take the benefits, but when they run out or the companies have better offers elsewhere, they pack up and leave Ireland again.

It would be far more sensible, and a lot cheaper for the Irish taxpayer, if special funding and support would be offered more to Irish businesses, and in particular to small and medium-size companies. It would also be good to encourage more local people to start their own business with financial help and tax relief. This would create new jobs, uplift the spirits in Irish communities, and on the long run provide the government also with more taxes. For the country as a whole it would mean stability and an increase in skills and entrepreneurship.

Sadly the few programmes that exist in support of Irish businesses are underfunded, badly managed and administered, and often influenced by party politics and favouritism towards friends of those in charge. If we want to get out of the current recession, changes in the government's business and enterprise policy are needed, and needed fast.

The Emerald Islander

Is DELL planning to leave Ireland?

US computer manufacturer Dell is apparently planning to end its production line in Ireland, which would mean a loss of a further 3000 jobs on the Emerald Isle. The company is under pressure from a downturn in world-wide sales of its computers and laptops, and only a few days ago I received a special offer from them in my mail, with knock-down prices for laptops I have never seen before.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal claims that their Limerick facilities would be vulnerable should Dell decide to outsource manufacturing. According to US sources the company has been discussing a closure of operations at its Raheen factory in Limerick for nearly two years.
Dell has already approached contract manufacturers with offers to sell most of its factories around the world (and not only in Ireland).

“Dell executives have privately discussed closing the Irish plant for two years," said two people with knowledge of those discussions. One of them stated that Dell bosses decided to close the factory early last year, though they did not yet establish a firm time line.
The same source says that the goal is to move production capacity from Ireland to Poland, where Dell opened a factory early last year, "though the company is moving cautiously to limit any disruption of manufacturing and defections of sales and operations staff they want to retain".
In addition to their 3000 factory workers in Limerick, Dell has more than 1000 office staff which are "likely to remain in Ireland”.

A new Dell manufacturing plant in the Polish city of Lodz has opened indeed last year, and a number of Polish workers were trained for their new jobs in Limerick. Poland, which was not a member of the EU when Dell began production in Ireland, has far lower wage levels and also much lower costs of living than Ireland. It is clear that the cheaper workforce there would reduce overall costs, and producing in Poland would give the company also easier access to new markets in Russia, other Eastern European countries and the Middle East.

So far Dell has refused to comment on these reports, but in a business statement the company notes that the slowdown in demand for its products is continuing. The statement says that "the continued conservatism in IT spending in the US" had now "extended into western Europe and several countries in Asia".
In a number of filings to the US Security and Exchange Commission, Dell confirmed that it continues to expand its use of "external partnerships" or outsourcing for manufacturing.
The company says that it "expects to incur costs" as it "realigns the business to improve competitiveness, reduce headcount, and invest in infrastructure and acquisitions".

However, the only recent change in its existing manufacturing operations was the closure of a desktop plant in Austin, Texas last March, with a loss of 900 jobs.

But the writing is on the wall, and anyone with only a little business experience and common sense can see that a restructuring of Dell's operations - which are even more likely now under the newly increased economic pressures - will mean a drastic reduction of its Irish workforce, if not a complete end of production here.
This would of course be another heavy blow to our already weakened and shrinking economy. Thousands of people, families and local businesses would be affected, and Limerick's Mayor John Gilligan said it would be "dreadful news" if the 3000 people in the Raheen factory would be laid off.

But so far he is the only Irish politician or public representative willing to speak about the matter openly.

Sean Lally, President of the Limerick Chamber of Commerce, said that he did not want to make any comment that would "probably add fire to the speculation".
"Dell is a very important part of the economic fabric of Limerick and the region, and people should support the company when they come to buy their PCs," he added.

Well, the timid businessman and chamber president might be right, and I am seriously thinking about the extremely competitive offer I have just received from Dell. But I also wonder if they might just sell off their existing stock in Ireland at knock-down prices, before pulling out. What would be the conditions of the maintenance and long-term customer services after a closure of the Irish operation?

With horror I remember the story of another US computer manufacturer - Gateway - who entered Ireland with fanfares and the highest praise from senior government ministers and even the then Taoiseach.
For a few years all went well, and many Irish people bought computers from them. And then, almost over night, it was all over. Gateway closed its Irish plant when they ran into problems at home and left the country, with no provisions for follow-up customer service. I was not one of their customers myself, but several of my clients were. And they had a lot of trouble with Gateway computers after the company was no longer present in Ireland.

It is understandable that Dell is playing their cards close to their chest, in order to avoid unrest and a further drop of sales figures in the Irish market.
One would however expect to hear a word or two from the government, since it is its job to protect Irish interests and jobs.
But, as usual, our elected leaders are either ignorant, uninterested or both. And they are too shy to say anything that could perhaps be seen as controversial.

Speaking at the announcement of a € 30 million investment by IBM in Ireland, Tánaiste (and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment) Mary Coughlan (right) said it was "very important that we do not speculate about these issues".

I see. If you don't mention the flood, you will not get wet feet...
It is almost unbelievable how naive and incompetent this woman is! And it beats me what qualifies her to be the deputy prime minister of this country and the minister responsible for the economy!

Pressed for more information, she said that the IDA had "been in touch with the company on numerous occasions and is aware that from a global perspective a decision has been taken to re-evaluate Dell's global operations".

Well, thank you, Tánaiste! To know that, we don't need you or the IDA. All we need is to read the Wall Street Journal.

The Tánaiste did say that her predecessor in the department, Micheál Martin, went to see Dell and spoke to them about the issues, before he became the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Well, and what did he find out? Nobody seems to know. She certainly doesn't. One wonders if Micheál Martin made a vow of silence when he changed departments. Isn't it normal practice to brief one's successor about important matters during a hand-over of responsibilities? Well, apparently not in a Fianna Fail led government in Ireland. Here ignorance rules, and the most naive people are promoted to the most important positions.

Mary Coughlan added that the government would "keep closely in contact with Dell", but admitted she had not recently met with the company. So what is she doing all the time? Certainly not her job, for which Irish taxpayers remunerate her with a very generous salary.

It is almost certain by now that Dell will close the factory in Limerick, or at least scale down their operation significantly. When it happens, the government and many other politicians will be shocked and 'surprised' and blame it on the global recession. And thousands of ordinary people will suffer for it.
Would those we elected to govern the country actually care and do their jobs properly, there might be ways and compromises found to soften the blow, which is to come anyway, sooner or later.

But since a majority of Irish people prefers to be led by fools and ripped-off by scoundrels, they have confirmed Fianna Fáil in government last year. Now we all have to live with the consequences.

The Emerald Islander

More Job Cuts in Waterford

Another company in Waterford is planning do reduce its workforce.
Honeywell Transportation, which operates in the IDA industrial estate in Waterford City, seeks a further 50 job cuts on top of 100 that were announced already in July. The company is also introducing short-time working "until Christmas at least".

Three months ago the US multinational firm announced that up to 100 redundancies were being sought at its Waterford facility. Managers informed employees that they would start consultation with its union representatives on a plan to reduce the workforce by between 85 and 100 employees by the end of this year.

Now the company says that "due to instability and continued declines in demand in the automotive market" an additional 50 jobs are at risk, as well as a possibility for other actions to address the loss of volume.

Talks between the trade unions and management at the company are in progress.

580 Irish Office Jobs will be shifted to India

580 jobs are to be lost at the Irish insurance group Hibernian, as part of a three-year restructuring programme.

The Irish jobs will be transferred to Bangalore in India, where Hibernian's British parent company Aviva has offices and facilities already.

It is expected that most of the jobs will be 'phased out' at the Hibernian's head office in Dublin and most of the jobs concerned will be in back office and support services.

The process will start in the first three months of next year, when the work of 80 Irish people will be shifted to India.

Hibernian's Chief Executive Stuart Purdy said the company "hopes to mitigate the impact by offering staff re-deployment and re-training".

However, the UNITE trade union, which represents most of the workers, has expressed shock and anger. The union's national officer Jerry Shanahan said his organisation had not accepted the proposal and would be challenging the Hibernian's case for the restructuring.

Hibernian insurance, which in its advertisements always emphasises that they are an Irish company, currently employs 2200 people.

250 Irish Job Cuts at DELL Computers

US computer manufacturer Dell, which employs currently 4500 people in Ireland, is to reduce its Irish workforce by about 250 people. The job losses will mainly be in the areas of finance, IT, marketing, sales and technical support.

About 180 to 200 jobs will be lost at Dell's Cherrywood plant in South-Dublin, and the remainder in their plant in Limerick. Dell staff were informed about the job cuts - which will be compulsory - during a meeting with senior management this morning.

In a statement issued this afternoon, Dell said it regrets the impact the move will have on its employees, but it is "confident that the changes will position the company strongly for continued future growth". This might sound good, but is certainly little or no comfort for those who will be made redundant.

The development comes after Dell's plan to cut 10% of its entire workforce of currently more than 95,000 worldwide.
It is thought that the slowing US consumer demand for new computers amid its faltering economy and first signs of a recession are to blame for the job cuts.

Once again we see that economic problems are created through greed, speculation and mismanagement in the USA, and Irish people are losing their jobs as a result. As long as capitalism rules the world, such will happen again and again.

The Emerald Islander

Most new Jobs are for Women

Women have been more than twice as successful as men in finding a job in the Irish labour market over the past year. According to the latest Quarterly National Household Survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in Dublin, new jobs for women were responsible for almost 70% of the growth in employment.

The CSO reports that a total of 66,800 new jobs were created in the Republic of Ireland during the analysed 12-months period ending last November. However, the picture is not as positive as it might look at first sight.
More than half of the new jobs offered only part-time employment, and 60% of them resulted from a surge in self-employment (which is encouraged and promoted by several government agencies and the Department of Social and Family Affairs).

In the same time period the number of men employed in Ireland fell by almost 10,000. This is the alarming part of the statistic, as it shows that the number of traditional jobs for Irish men, mostly in manufacturing and transport, is still in a steady decline.
Long-established Irish businesses have closed over the past few years - even during the boom time of the "Celtic Tiger" - or transfered their manufacturing jobs to the low-wage countries in the so-called "third world". Despite the happy sunshine talk from the government, Ireland is losing its competitiveness, and subsequently many skilled workers lose their job.

Many of the new jobs created - often with massive public announcements and huge PR - are in fact only low-paid part-time positions, predominantly in retail, service and food businesses. They are specifically tailored for unskilled or low-skilled labour and prefer to employ women, who are much easier willing to take part-time jobs than men.

Even though the country is still awash with surplus money and most people think that we never had it so good, the clouds of economic decline have been gathering over Ireland already for the past three years. The recently published employment data from the CSO underline this trend with clear figures, and it remains to be seen if the government will react in a positive way and make sure that there is enough employment for skilled Irish men (as well as for the women).

The Emerald Islander