Government may help fund redundant crystal workers

Neans McSweeney

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin made the commitment in the course of a meeting he had with local Fine Gael TD, John Deasy.

An inter-agency forum featuring representatives from the IDA, FAS, Leader, the VEC, Waterford County Council and other bodies has already been put in place to help meet the needs of the 485 crystal workers earmarked for redundancy in Dungarvan and Waterford city.

Leaders from that group have also met with the Minister to discuss the way forward for the county after the devastating blow.

The Government commitment to provide extra resources for the enterprise board if the closure of Dungarvan and lay-offs at Waterford Crystal go ahead has been welcomed by Mr Deasy. “I had a concern that there wasn’t enough money in the county enterprise board budget looking ahead,” he said.

“I asked the Minister to increase the budget as it impacts on those workers who find themselves redundant. He has agreed in principle to do this. The idea is that myself, the county manager and the officials in the enterprise board put a proposal to the Minister for the amount we believe will be necessary to fund any business plans which come from former crystal workers. There will be help from the enterprise board and a comprehensive plan has already been initiated by them. The details of this were made available to me last Friday.”

Meanwhile, talks between the unions and management at the crystal plant continue. There have been two meetings to date, both last week, and more are planned. The union is not convinced that job cuts on the scale proposed by the company are necessary.