100 jobs to be cut by Waterford firm

WATERFORD company Honeywell Transportation Ireland has confirmed it is to cut its workforce by up to 100 by the end of the year.

But Limerick, meanwhile, could get a jobs boost.

A property developer wants to build a business park near Moyross which would create 300 jobs, it was learned yesterday.

The developer, who has a lot of property interests in Limerick, is understood to have purchased more than 70 acres at Old Cratloe Road.

He has been in talks with the Northside Regeneration Agency as he feels his plans could be worked in as part of the regeneration agencies plans to redevelop Moyross.

The agency wants to develop a range of business and retail outlets as part of the new Moyross.

In Waterford, however, Honeywell Transportation — which manufactures engine boosting systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles — has told staff it will start consultations with employee representatives to establish voluntary redundancies before it looks at forced redundancies.

“Honeywell took this initiative in an effort to maximise its global supply chain footprint to remain competitive in an increasingly cost-sensitive business segment,” a company spokeswoman said.

This is not the first time Honeywell has cut staff. In 2004 it announced 82 redundancies and in 2003, it announced 63 job losses.

Yesterday the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union sought a meeting with Honeywell management to discuss the redundancies.

Local Labour TD Brian O’Shea said the company had been operating for the best part of 30 years and with its 600 jobs, had been an important employer in the light engineering sector.

“From the point of view of the workers who might lose their jobs, the state agencies must pull out all the stops to ensure that they can benefit form whatever upskilling and retraining is available, and so that they can remain in employment in the sector.

“Announcements such as this highlight how important it is, when it comes to the economic development of the region, that Waterford Institute of Technology is upgraded to university status, so that local research and development capacity is enhanced, and so that a wider range of foreign direct investment and indigenous investment can be attracted,” he added.