Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe has expressed his “deep concern” at the scale of the job losses announced by Quinn Insurance.
Mr O’Keeffe, who yesterday pulled out of a week-long trade mission to Australia so he could deal with the fallout from today’s announcement, pledged the Government would do all in it power to help the affected workers find new jobs.
A restructuring plan, announced by the insurer’s two administrators this afternoon, will see more than 900 jobs cut at the company’s nine centres in Ireland and Britain.
The majority of the job losses will be in the Republic, with more than 300 employees to lose their jobs in Blanchardstown alone.
Mr O’Keeffe described the cuts as “devastating for the workers and their families”, saying he was “acutely aware of deeply human toll” of the job losses as well as an economic costs.
“I want to make it clear to the communities affected that the Government wants to see Quinn Insurance continue as a viable and sustainable insurance business for the sake of its policyholders, employees and competition in the insurance industry here,” he said.
Mr O’Keeffe said he had been in contact with the state job creation and training agencies, as well as Quinn Group employee representatives and local public representatives with a view to activating a “co-ordinated emergency Government response straight away”.
He said an inter-agency team comprising Enterprise Ireland, Fás, IDA Ireland, relevant county enterprise boards had been assembled to deal with the crisis.
“In the coming days, I will appoint a chairperson of that team who will continue to drive activities so that we can put every support in place quickly in responding to the needs of all those affected,” he said.
Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív said the Department of Social Protection would ensure claims for all employees affected will be processed speedily and that all necessary supports are made available similar to arrangements made in the past where companies faced large redundancies.
Fine Gael’s enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar said every effort must be made to find a committed owner for Quinn Insurance in order to safeguard the maximum number of jobs at the company.
He also expressed concern younger workers would avail of the redundancy package in order to look for work overseas, adding to the country’s soaring emigration rate.
Labour’s finance spokeswoman Joan Burton described the announcement as a “bitter blow” to the workers in all the company’s centres who have fought and lobbied so hard to protect their jobs.
Sinn Fein’s Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin described the redundancies as a “disaster” that would have wider implications for employment and for the economy
“This jobs disaster now requires a real and sustained Government response. Every effort must be made to rejuvenate this business where possible, to retain existing jobs in Quinn insurance and the Quinn group and to take targeted action to sustain existing jobs and to create new jobs in the wider economy in the Border region,” he said.