LRC awaits union reply on glass firm survival plan

The Labour Relations Commission is awaiting a response from trade unions to its proposal for negotiations on a survival plan for the Ardagh Glass company in Ringsend, Dublin.

The Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Tom Kitt, told the Dáil that the proposal, already accepted by the company, would involve "major cultural and work practice changes" to make the plant, which employs 375 people, viable.

Ardagh, the only glass company in the State, announced its closure last week and was one of the companies at the centre of a private notice question in the Dáil on significant job losses in Cork, Offaly and Dublin.

Mr Kitt said he was confident that the focused approach of Government agencies, with companies and local communities, will "facilitate the provision of alternative opportunities" for the workers who lost their jobs in such significant numbers.

IDA Ireland is focusing on a number of key objectives includ- ing a more geographical distribution of new greenfield investment and increasing the quality of foreign investment.

Earlier, the Taoiseach expressed his concern for the plight of individuals affected by job losses. "I hope industrial relations mechanisms will help to sort out the problems at some of those companies. However, in other companies it is market conditions that are unfortunately creating the difficulties."

The State agencies and various Departments would do all they could for business and communities, he said.

The Labour leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, said there was a "collapse of confidence" within the Irish economy among ordinary workers who were now faced with the reality that the jobs they thought were secure were manifestly insecure. Some 375 jobs had been lost in the glass bottle company in Ringsend, while 200 jobs were lost at Youghal Carpets and 160 at EMC in Ovens, Co Cork.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said the job losses over the past four months, were the "highest for over five years".

The inward flow of investment to supply replacement jobs had also dried up and international confidence in the Government's management of the economy was now very low.

Mr Pat Rabbitte, Labour's Enterprise spokesman, said this seemed to be a straightforward industrial relations impasse and the company had a number of viable jobs.

Mr Kitt agreed it was an industrial relations issue, but said the Tánaiste had asked the director- general of FÁS to arrange an assessment of the skills of the Ardagh workforce, and retraining if necessary to find alternative employment.