Limerick: Dell workers will get EU funding but important to wait until full extent of job losses are known–Colm Burke MEP

The following is a statement issued by FG MEP Colm Burke in relation to the Dell workers:

I have learned from the EU Commission that funding will be made available to the Dell workers in Limerick but that the application for funding should not be made until the full extent of the job losses becomes clear. I will be attending a public meeting tonight (Friday 10th April) with the Dell workers. It is vitally important that we maximise the number of people that benefit from this funding. The real extent of the job losses caused by the down-sizing of the Dell plant will not be known until later in the year when the knock-on effect on downstream industries is clear. These people will also be able to benefit from the funding but only if the Government includes them in the application.Funding can be made available to workers in a region when more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs are lost as a result of changing trade patterns. The funding is available under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) which aims to help workers made redundant as a result of changing global trade patterns to find another job as quickly as possible.

I have been previously been advised by the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladamir Špilda that any application for EU funding on behalf of the Dell workers in Limerick who are losing their jobs would be looked at “favourably”. In addition I have been liaising with the European Commission to determine the appropriateness of the fund for certain cases in Ireland and I have been informed that there is enough money on the EU side to help Irish workers once the Government agrees to match the funding”.
The fund is essential to help the former Dell workers and those in places like Banta-Donnelly re-enter the workforce and contribute to bringing Ireland out of the recession”.