THE Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Richard Bruton, is in the US trying to persuade multinational companies to establish plants in Ireland to compensate for the 1,000 jobs lost in Dublin and Co Tipperary last week.
The Minister, who was flown out yesterday, will meet senior executives of 12 multinationals to discuss the closures of the Semperit factory in Dublin, Tambrands in Tipperary, and Schiesser in Carrick on Suir. Mr Bruton will ask multinationals already located in Ireland to consider expanding their operations to the three closed plants.
On Saturday, Mr Bruton met a delegation of public representatives, trade union officials and representatives of local organisations from South Tipperary. They discussed the impact of the loss of 220 jobs at Tambrands, which manufactured Tampax tampons, and of 150 jobs at the Schiesser textile plant in Carrick on Suir.
The Minister stressed that Tipperary had not been forgotten despite the media spotlight on Ballyfermot closure. He recognised that the relative impact of the loss of 370 jobs in Tipperary was greater than any impact from closures in Dublin. There were different problems and different responses.
Mr Bruton told the delegation that he was giving the Tipperary closures priority attention and "all the stops are being pulled out to find replacement industries for both towns as quickly as possible". He revealed that he had already appointed an inter agency enterprise group to deal with the jobs crisis in Tipperary and had extended the group's remit to deal with the situation in Carrick on Suir.
He said: "The IDA will now aggressively market both factories, which are very attractive for new industries. The high quality workforce at both locations will be a significant bonus in the IDA's marketing endeavours.
He pointed out that state agencies Forbairt, Shannon Development, Fas and the Enterprise Board would be working with the IDA.
The Chairman of Carrick on Suir UDC, Mr Denis Landy, a member of the Tipperary delegation, said he accepted the minister's assurances that the Tipperary closures were being given as high a priority as Semperit.
The State's largest trade union, SIPTU, wanted the October 31st closure deadline at Tambrands in Tipperary town extended, and the union will meet IDA executives on Wednesday to discuss the future of the plant.