Fears Dell workers will not benefit directly from fund

FRESH concerns are emerging that many redundant Dell and Bantha staff will not benefit directly from a European Globalisation Fund.

The European Parliament yesterday gave the go-ahead for €14.8 million to retrain and upskill up to 2,500 former workers in Limerick.

The Government is due to top up the fund with €7m.

But there are fears in Limerick that much of the money will go to colleges to help draw up courses geared to upskilling redundant workers.

A number of third-level colleges, including the University of Limerick, have already drawn up proposals to administer money from the fund to devise courses.

Labour MEP Alan Kelly, who has pushed for the fund, said the money will be “a hand-up rather than a hand-out”, vital for the economy of the mid-west.

However, he called on the Government to put in place the structures needed to ensure best use is made of the money and warned the state only had until the end of June 2011 to spend it.

“Once the money is approved by the EU, we are halfway there. It is up to the Irish Government and the agencies to use every penny in a way that deals with the interests of the workers.

“They must get organised. The money must be used very, very quickly.

“We have made it clear to the Irish authorities that this fund is not to supplement any national employment programme that is already there to help the unemployed.”

But Eamonn Ryan, who was a workers’ spokesman at Dell, said a “big but hung over the fund” and how it will benefit workers.

“My concern is third-level colleges will get most of it and very little will be left for other purposes. Not everybody will be interested or have the necessary skills or motivation to go back and get a third-level qualification. But many have already worked on their own business ideas and need money as well as mentoring to get a business off the ground.

“Money could be used to buy machinery and material and to employ necessary experts such as accountants.

“A lot of the redundancy money will already have been spoken for, with mortgages having to be paid off or in keeping repayments up to date. I have paid off my mortgage and would like to get money from the European parliament globalisation fund to develop a business project I have been working on,” he said.

Mr Ryan, 60, who worked at Dell for nine years, said with third-level colleges facing huge financial cutbacks, there would be no guarantee that if they got money, it would be dedicated to benefit of Dell workers.

MEPs, meanwhile, have also stepped up pressure on the European Commission to explain why Brussels approved funding of more than €50m to help US computer giant Dell close its Limerick plant and move to Poland.