Further blow to economy as more than 300 jobs go

MORE than 300 jobs were lost yesterday in Cork, Limerick and Dublin in the latest blow to workers caused by the recession.

Computer giant Dell yesterday slashed a further 230 jobs at its beleaguered Limerick and south Dublin facilities, while a Co Cork company that manufactures plastic membranes for filtration and purification is to axe 75 jobs.

The announcement of the 130 job losses at the Dell facility in Cherrywood near Loughlinstown was made in tandem with the announcement of another 100 job losses in Limerick, all as part of the latest round of the company’s $4 billion restructuring plan.

The latest job cuts follow the announcement on January 8 that all 1,900 manufacturing jobs at its Raheen industrial estate base in Limerick would transfer to a new plant in Lodz, Poland.

Yesterday’s follow-up announcement, that 100 workers of the 1,000 Limerick staff in the highly skilled R&D and IT sections will be laid off in coming months, prompted Mayor of Limerick John Gilligan to state: “I believe Dell have no further commitment to Limerick and I am very pessimistic about the situation and I believe Dell long term plan a complete pullout.”

Fine Gael deputy finance spokesman Kieran O’Donnell, TD, said Tánaiste Mary Coughlan had been “asleep at the wheel” throughout the Dell crisis.

“When the 1,900 job losses were announced in January, we were assured that the remaining high-end jobs were safe. This is clearly not the case,” he said.

Dell had already cut 250 jobs in Cherrywood, which is the base for its sales operation for the Irish market and the small/medium business sector of the British market, as well as home to the EMEA Enterprise Expert Centre which provides technical support to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Yesterday’s announcement that a further 130 jobs were to be lost was greeted with dismay, with Fine Gael Dublin South TD Alan Shatter claiming the fresh round of job losses simply added to the gloom of growing unemployment in the south Dublin area.

He said steps such as waiving PRSI for employers on new staff taken on during the next two years were urgently needed.

Meanwhile, Millipore in Carrigtwohill, which manufactures plastic membranes for filtration and purification, is to cut 75 jobs. The company announced it is to transfer manufacturing of two products to Asia.

Company site director Nigel Williams said the vast majority of those affected were temporary employees. Last year, the company invested €85m in the plant.

“This decision is not in any way a reflection on the professionalism and dedication of this site or of our employees. We are continuing to work hard to attract new volume to the site and there is a commitment to this site from Millipore Corporation,” he said.