Government policy fails region

THE announcement that 240 jobs at FCI Ireland will be lost by the end of next year is another hammer-blow to Fermoy and confirms that north Cork is facing its worst employment crisis for decades.

The area is now experiencing the same decline in industry that Cork city suffered in the 1980s when large companies like Ford and Dunlop closed.

The news comes hot on the heels of the crisis at BUPA and it follows hundreds of job losses in north Cork in the last two years, at Dairygold, Nestlé and Greencore.

In total nearly 1,800 jobs have been lost in the area in recent years, with Fermoy and Mitchelstown particularly badly hit.

Instead of concentrating its efforts and those of its State agencies on finding replacement jobs, the Government has simply turned its back on north Cork and Government TDs representing the area stand indicted for their inaction.

The Government must provide every assistance to help the area to diversify its industrial base and attract new, large-scale employers to the area. North Cork has huge potential and I am confident a few simple steps could see new industries flourish.

As with so many other firms that have pulled out of Ireland, FCI has cited cost pressures from competitors in low-cost countries as the cause of the closure. Through a raft of stealth taxes and charges, the Government has driven up the cost of doing business in this country, and it is Government policy that is forcing people out of work.

The rampant inflation rate must be reduced, stealth charges on business (which were increased in the last budget) must be eliminated, and the high cost of insurance must also be tackled — otherwise companies such as FCI will continue to be driven abroad.

In the short term, the infrastructural deficit in north Cork must be addressed urgently.

The regional roads between Mallow, Fermoy and Mitchelstown are wholly inadequate and unsuitable for industrial traffic.

These routes must be upgraded to make the area more attractive to replacement industries.

Unfortunately, the Government has neglected to do this and roads in north Cork did not even receive a mention in Transport 21 or the new national development plan.

The numbers employed in the industrial sector in Ireland are now lower than in 1997, and it is Government policy that is directly or indirectly responsible.

They are always one report away from action, one committee away from a decision and one announcement away from a solution.

They must act immediately to resolve the situation in Fermoy before the whole of north Cork becomes merely a commuter belt for Cork city.

Senator Paul Bradford

Seanad Éireann

Dublin 2.