The chief executive of the IDA said the State agency would be taking all necessary action to help the 1,900 Dell workers facing redundancy to secure future employment.
Barry O'Leary was speaking in the wake of the computer giant's announcement this morning that it is to move its manufacturing operation to Poland early next year with the loss of 1,900 jobs at its Limerick plant.
"IDA has a pipeline of projects under consideration for the Limerick region. We are pursuing these potential investments and will do everything possible to speed up the investment decisions in Limerick's favour," he said.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland said the decision by Dell to cease manufacturing operations in Limerick was a significant blow to the city, the Midwest region and to the Irish economy.
In a statement today, the chamber said other such announcements could be expected in the next 12 to 18 months but that these would be “somewhat off-set by new investments from existing and new multinational companies.”
It warned, however, that Ireland could not be “complacent” and needed to put fundamentals in place such as improved infrastructure to advance economic growth and development.
“Today’s announcement is a stark reminder that we cannot be complacent. The 2007 report of the National Competitiveness Council highlighted key areas where Ireland had lost competitiveness including; productivity, labour and energy costs, increased business regulation and overall infrastructure quality,” the statement said.
Isme, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, accused the Government of doing nothing about the high cost of doing business in Ireland saying Dell’s announcement was symptomatic of the ongoing problems in the labour market.
“The announcement by Dell today, is not only a body blow for the workers concerned but has far reaching consequences for the whole economy in terms of international reputation, highlighting how uncompetitive we have become over the last number of years,” said Isme chief executive Mark Fielding.
“What galls most is that the Government have been aware of the threats that business have been facing and still have done nothing to address the issue, including the exorbitant cost environment."
SIPTU sectoral organiser Karan O'Loughlin estimated up to 4,000 jobs could be lost in total following the Dell redundancies.
"This is a huge blow to the region," she said. "It could mean the loss of around 4,000 jobs in total when the impact on suppliers and associated industry is measured. There are a large number of companies dependent on Dell for the majority or all of their business. These companies will now be hard pressed to source alternative business in the current economic climate."
The union welcomed the establishment of a taskforce to deal with the fall-out from the Dell job losses.