Laid-off TalkTalk workers to get €2.7m EU funds

Laid-off TalkTalk employees were voted €2.7m from the EU to help with retraining, education and self-employment supports by the European Parliament.

The total funding available for the 432 of the 575 former staff of the Waterford-based call centre that closed unexpectedly last year will be €5.4m when state funding is added.

The money, from the EU’s globalisation fund designed to help unemployed to find alternative jobs, got the overwhelming support of 561 MEPs, with just 72 voting against.

Many of the MEPs stressed that the state bodies and the workers themselves must make use of the funds as quickly and effectively as possible, to ensure none has to be returned.

Fine Gael’s Seán Kelly, who had meetings with the Employment Commissioner Lazslo Andor about TalkTalk’s application, said: “We need to ensure that they enjoy relevant and labour market-driven training opportunities to add to their skills set.”

But Labour MEP Phil Prendergast warned that the funds were not a panacea for the laid-off workers.

For instance, large amounts of money had to be returned unspent by the Dell workers in Limerick because they ran out of time, and because the state agencies handling it were not flexible enough and limited what the money could be spent on.

Ireland is the third largest beneficiary, with more than 10,000 workers being granted around €65m.

However, in a study of four cases, two in Belgium, one in Sweden, and Dell in Limerick, Ireland had by far the worst outcome, with just 21% of the 2,589 Irish workers in employment after €13m of EU and state funds were spent.