Taoiseach pledges support to Vita staff

“If I could pick up the phone and tell him to find the redundancy money, I would.”

So said Taoiseach Enda Kenny to Cork’s Vita Cortex workers yesterday after he met them to pledge his support but underline his powerlessness in this dispute between multimillionaire employer Jack Ronan and his former employees.

However, Mr Kenny will contact Siptu next week after Jobs Minister Richard Bruton updates him on his department’s assessment of Mr Ronan’s finances.