Labelling measures ‘could have saved plant’

THE Government has come under fire over the loss of hundreds of jobs in west Waterford following Tuesday’s announcement of the closure of Cappoquin Chickens.

And while Tánaiste and Employment Minister Mary Coughlan was ctiticised for saying last week that FÁS would be available to workers, even while discussions about a rescue plan were continuing, supermarkets and chicken importers were also blamed for the economic blow to the area.

SIPTU’s area representative David Lane said the Government should have stepped in “a long time ago” to help save the factory. “They did little or nothing to stop the imports coming in and the imports were the biggest threat.”

He called on politicians from all sides to come together to help the 250 full-time and part-time workers at Cappoquin Chickens. “We need some sort of strategy for the west Waterford area because at the moment the likelihood of these lads getting jobs is bleak. We need a response from all politicians, collectively, but whether they’ll be strong enough to do that is another story.”

Imported chicken was the “biggest threat” to the indigenous processing industry, he said. Despite the threat to the plant being widely known in recent months, Mr Lane said the reality is still not hitting home with some workers.

“It will be fine for another few weeks, but it will really sink in when the place closes and they’re going on the dole. This is going to have enormous implications.”

Fine Gael TD John Deasy said the Government had given up on Cappoquin Chickens, even while negotiations were ongoing to try and save the factory and its jobs. He cited a letter written to him by Ms Coughlan last Friday, in which she said the state development agencies would “develop a co-ordinated approach” to making the employees aware of supports available “to assist in finding new employment or to start their own businesses”.

While negotiations were still going on at that point with a view to selling the company as a going concern, the Tánaiste added: “The full range of FÁS services will be made available to the company and workers concerned if they wish to avail of those services.”

It was too late now for the Government to try and assist the workers, according to Mr Deasy. “They had a chance in the last couple of months to act decisively, but the opportunity for action is now gone.”

However, the Department of Enterprise and Employment last night rejected the Fine Gael TD’s claims, saying Ms Coughlan had “consistently pressed at EU level” for the introduction of country-of-origin labelling for poultry and other meats during her time as agriculture minister.

“Deputy Deasy fails to mention in his statement that Enterprise Ireland had four meetings with the company this year, having earlier (in 2005) approved significant funding for the company,” said a spokesperson for the Tánaiste.