THE MILLIONAIRE owner of the Vita Cortex business has said his current financial position does not allow him to make funds available to pay redundancy to workers currently staging a sit-in at the company’s Cork factory.
In his first public statement since 32 workers occupied the company premises in Cork which was closed on December 16th, Jack Ronan criticised the “negative and inaccurate publicity” which suggested the company had the funds to meet the redundancy payment.
He added that it was “patently not the case” that he could do so.
Mr Ronan has an interest or shareholding in a number of named companies in various counties north and south of the Border, according to a document seen by The Irish Times.
There have been repeated calls from unions and politicians for Mr Ronan to make clear the extent of his personal assets and to pay the redundancy himself from his own assets. He described the personal nature of much of the criticism which has been directed at him as “neither just nor warranted”.
He added: “I, like so many other business people, have had to accept the harsh reality of the unprecedented state of the Irish and global economy.”
He claimed to have borrowed €8.5 million in 2006 to purchase shares in the business because he saw “potential in the Vita Cortex business both in its trading and property portfolios”.
He had bought some “well-located properties which could be developed to ensure the trading operation would be properly funded”, but those were not realised as a result of the recession.
The company has claimed that the redundancy payments could be made if Nama would agree to release €2.5 million held on deposit by another Vita Cortex firm on foot of an AIB loan taken over by the agency.
Nama says the loans are related to borrowings for a separate company and cannot be released to pay the redundancy.
“My current financial position does not allow me to make funds available to Vita Cortex,” Mr Ronan said in a detailed statement issued last night. “I am a borrower that has accounts transferred to Nama in respect of personal, development and business loans.”
He also repeated claims made in a statement from Vita Cortex management that the negative publicity surrounding the sit-in was threatening the 60 remaining jobs in Cork, Athlone and Belfast.
He described himself as “hugely disappointed” about the sit-in.
“The ongoing negative publicity has undermined the management’s efforts to maintain the existing levels of business and the employment need to service it which I fear may lead to further job losses in the near future,” he said.