The Government yesterday pledged the support of all State agencies to the 280 workers facing redundancy at the Procter & Gamble plant in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, as workers and local public representatives reacted to the news of the major job losses.
Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin said news of the job losses was very disappointing but the two-year phasing-out period would give the State agencies an opportunity to support workers in securing alternative employment.
Local Fianna Fáil TD Máire Hoctor was similarly hopeful that the two-year wind down of the plant's skincare products division would allow staff to retrain.
She hoped the State agencies would succeed in attracting small and medium sized enterprises to the town.
Her party colleague Michael Smith TD admitted the announcement was a huge blow to the north Tipperary economy. He said he would be pushing to ensure the various incentives made available to Procter & Gamble should also be available to expand other enterprises.
Mr Smith said he had recently been approached by two existing small enterprises in Nenagh seeking to expand and such firms should be encouraged as Ireland can no longer hope to compete with low-cost economies where labour costs are a fraction of what they are here.
The local Independent TD Michael Lowry said Procter & Gamble was the economic heartbeat of Nenagh and he described the loss of 280 jobs as a devastating blow for north Tipperary, given it would mean an annual loss of an estimated €15 million-plus in wages.
Mr Lowry said the loss of the jobs and the skincare line at the plant would also have a huge knock-on effect for suppliers of materials, components and services, with many smaller supplier companies hugely dependent on Procter & Gamble for their business.
Senator Kathleen O'Meara, of the Labour Party, said the blow was the latest in a series to hit north Tipperary and the area had never received any replacement industries for the loss of about 1,000 jobs in the region over the last eight years or so.
"Unfortunately, this news comes as the largest and most significant in a list of job losses. I find it particularly regrettable that these job losses are coming at a time when the Procter & Gamble plant here is so successful. It turned a profit of €10 million last year alone."
Ms O'Meara accused the Government of failing north Tipperary, claiming that IDA Ireland has made no site visits with any prospective investors to north Tipperary in the past two years. "We are not on the radar as far as this Government is concerned," she said.
Nenagh Siptu branch organiser Martin Meere remained upbeat that his union, which represents over 350 staff at the plant, will be able to persuade management not to transfer manufacturing of skincare products to Poland in two years' time. "We have two years before any job moves to Poland and we're going to be very positive in our approach.
"We have a good workforce and a workforce that is willing to change to keep the jobs in Nenagh and they've proven that over the last 25 years here," he said.
Nenagh Chamber of Commerce spokesman Eoin Dillon said the news of the job losses was highly regrettable but he pointed out that many of the staff at the plant were highly skilled and he expressed confidence they would secure employment in the area in the near future. "Nenagh Chamber of Commerce has long called for the implementation of a strategy to promote local indigenous business, particularly of a technological nature and we want an accelerated approach by the statutory bodies in implementing such a policy."
Debbie Zubrzycki (41) and her husband, Chris (46), left Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1999 when Procter & Gamble announced it was to close its plant there. They moved to work with the company in Nenagh where their daughter, Samantha (21), now also works.
"I'm not going to go back to England and leave my children here because they've spent half their lives here so it's their home now," Ms Zubrzycki said.