THE Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Richard Bruton, will brief union representatives at the Semperit plant and the IDA this week.
Last week the Minister visited the US and met senior executives of multinationals to discuss the closures at Semperit in Ballyfermot, Dublin - due to close in December - Tambrands in Tipperary, and Schiesser in Carrick on Suir.
He spoke also to the US management of Wellman International. The future of its synthetic fibre plant in Mullagh, Co Meath, will be considered as the strike goes into its 11th week, but Mr Bruton stressed yesterday he did not believe it would close this week.
Following meetings with 15 US companies as part of an IDA promotion, the Minister was confident that at least half a dozen would lead to projects in the financial services and electronics areas, providing nearly 3,000 jobs.
The meeting with Semperit union officials and the IDA is expected to take place on Wednesday. He plans to up date them on his visit, particularly to the Cooper Tyre Company in Ohio.
A spokesman for the Minister said Cooper had expressed an interest in the possible purchase of the plant. The IDA would be in contact with Semperit to arrange for information to be forwarded to Cooper's management in the next week or two.
A decision on the future of the Wellman plant will be considered this week, following what management called a breakdown of talks on Friday but which the union insisted was only an adjournment.
The Minister said on RTE Radio that the US company was looking at the plant's future. It was clear about its position. Local management and unions would have to resolve this dispute.