Dell workers want say on funding

WORKERS at the doomed Dell plant in Limerick said yesterday they want to have a say on how the EU-backed retraining fund announced by EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is used.

Mr Barroso, on a visit to Limerick last Saturday promoting a Lisbon Treaty Yes vote, said the EU has decided to give €14.8 million from the European Globalisation Fund to help 2,000 Dell workers and a further 600 at Dell supplier RR Donnolly to retrain and develop new skills.

The Irish Government as part of the deal is committed to contributing €9m to the workers’ package.

However, it appears no mechanism has been put in place on the use of the money and a workers’ leader said they fear it could be wasted on bureaucracy.

Defence Minister Willie O’Dea, who accompanied Mr Barroso during his visit, said the funding would be probably drawn down through local enterprise agencies.

He said: “The workers in Limerick, with the assistance of the European funding, will have access to retraining, re-education and also access to the labour market, with the focus on finding jobs. But the main focus will be on retraining to prepare people for the changed economic circumstances and the changed education opportunities that it brings.”

A spokesman for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said the globalisation funding would be dispersed through appropriate government departments and their relevant service providers such as Fás, Enterprise Ireland, enterprise boards and various educational institutions.

The chairman of the Dell workers’ committee, formed after the company announced the closure of its Limerick operation, Denis Ryan said: “We do not want this money to be lost in red tape. That is a fear of mine. We will be holding a meeting of the committee to decide on what our approach should be. The people it is supposed to go directly to are the Dell workers and those at RR Donnolly.”