Cork move criticised

Employees of the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) news agency, Germany's answer to Reuters, have criticised plans to relocate its 20-staff English-language service from Hamburg to Cork in July.

The move was announced yesterday by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, as "an excellent example of the type of investment which the Government's and IDA Ireland's strategies are designed to attract".

DPA says it is a strategic move to strengthen its English-language operation in the long term, but employees in Hamburg say the relocation was made on strictly economic grounds. "They do want to keep the English-language service going but there is a feeling that they can do it more cheaply (in Cork)," the source said.

The company says employees left behind in Hamburg after the move will be moved to other positions. "Of course Ireland is attractive from a costs perspective," said Mr Thomas von Mouillard, head of DPA's foreign services. "It's not for nothing that so many multinationals have moved there."

Wage levels and employer social contributions in Ireland are significantly lower than in Germany, and DPA has set up a subsidary company in Ireland to take advantage of this.

Workers in the Irish operation will not produce original copy, but rewrite and edit material from correspondents around the world. Up to five of the 20 jobs created in Cork will be filled by people moving from Hamburg. Other positions will be filled by moving employees from other DPA offices around the world. The remaining jobs will be filled by local staff. Mr von Mouillard said the company was optimistic of finding local workers with a journalism background and knowledge of German. "If we don't find a level of German that meets our standards, we will of course start German courses," he said.

DPA says the relocation is part of a long-term plan to expand its foreign-language services in native-speaking countries. "As a euro-zone country, Ireland was more attractive than Britain. Dublin is an interesting big city with all the benefits but all the drawbacks too, like high rents and blocked streets," said Mr von Mouillard.

DPA has more than 1,100 employees with foreign-language services in English, Arabic and Spanish. The Spanish service moved from Hamburg to Madrid and Buenos Aires five years ago.