TRUST between management, unions and the workforce at Packard Electric in Tallaght, Dublin, must be restored without delay, the Minister of State, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said.

This was essential if the problems confronting the company were to be tackled vigorously to put the plant on a competitive cost structure and secure its future. "If this is not done soon, one must be pessimistic about the future," Mr Rabbitte told the House at Question Time.

The State had done everything possible to assist the company but in the final analysis the necessary action to tackle the existing problems rested with the company, he said in reply to the Fianna Fail deputy leader, Ms Mary O'Rourke.

Mr Rabbitte said that he and the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, were "extremely concerned" at the failure of the company to honour its commitment of March 14th last to advise the unions about business prospects for 1996. This created additional uncertainty and compounded a difficult situation for workers, including those on lay off. He and Mr Bruton had asked the company for an early meeting, he said.