Fás under pressure to spend €22m

NEARLY 60% of former Dell staff, and hundreds more workers from service supply companies who also lost their jobs when the computer giant relocated to Poland, have reacted positively to an innovative EU support fund aimed at retraining and upskilling.

Such has been the uptake in Limerick and other parts of the mid-west for support from the European Globalisation Fund (EGF), that Fás is in a race against the clock to cash in on more than €22 million allocated by both the EU and the Government.

Around 2,900 people lost their jobs in the Raheen plant and seven other services supply companies as a result of the move. However, 1,700 have since sought advice on how they can seek money from the EU fund to either retrain, participate in further education or set up their own business.