Aviva workers may be ineligible for European funding

HUNDREDS of workers due to lose their jobs at the Aviva insurance company might be ineligible for European funding to help retrain them for work in other industries.

The Government is already working on an application to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) to help reskill the 575 people made redundant earlier this month at the TalkTalk centre in Waterford. Previous applications were successful for training supports to former staff of Waterford Crystal, Dell in Limerick and SR Technics in Dublin.

But while Department of Education officials are monitoring the situation in relation to potential EGF support for Aviva workers, it said there is a lack of clarity on a number of key criteria for such applications.

The announcement last week means that 180 jobs are to be lost in parent group, Aviva Europe’s, Dublin base, and a further 770 redundancies will be sought in Aviva Ireland. The insurer employs almost 2,000 people at offices in Dublin, Cork and Galway, and in its 26 branches.

Another 300 posts could be outsourced, although there is possibility of 200 jobs being retained if centres of excellence are set up here to serve British customers.

Under the EGF, at least 500 people must be made redundant at a specific company within a four-month period. But it appears that the timescale of the Aviva job losses, including outsourcing, could span up to two-and-a-half years from last week’s announcement.