Sir, - My house can be purchased from me by compulsory purchase order, if it is in the interests of the common good to do so. Surety it is in the interests of the common good to maintain the jobs at the Semperit plant in Dublin.
Why, therefore, doesn't the Irish Government place a compulsory purchase order on this factory and its machinery? We should give the owners a fair price for it, less any grant money invested by the Government, less the cost of installations such as ESB, sewage, water, etc, and less the benefits of tax incentives given to this company over the years.
The company should then be sold to the manager/workers in Semperit, to carry on operations and develop the business as an Irish owned company. The debt to the State should be repayable. Some will argue that the State cannot afford to do this. What it cannot afford is another 600 people on the live register, with pay related social welfare benefits.
What this company proposes to do, ie relocate in a country with lower wage rates, is immoral. Packard Electric, Tampax, Semperit enough is enough. It is high time for our Government to stand up and protect the jobs of Irish citizens from this form of abuse. - Yours, etc.,
Sligo Branch Secretary,
Christian Solidarity Party, Drumkeerin,
Co Leitrim.