Jobs losses in Louth
Deputy O'Dowd raised job losses at PayPal and other local employers and urged faster delivery of the IDA site in Drogheda. The Tánaiste expressed regret, noted the company’s ongoing presence in Ireland, and highlighted the investment opportunity in Drogheda.
I would like to express my concerns about the loss of jobs in County Louth this week. Some 172 jobs will be lost in PayPal. Since January, over 70 redundancies have been announced at Hilton Food Group. There are concerns about jobs in Premier Periclase, which is a local industry in Drogheda that is in transition. I compliment IDA Ireland on the work it has done in buying additional land in County Louth. I am speaking particularly of the 39-acre IDA Ireland park in Drogheda. It has made a commitment to an advanced building solution there. I ask it to fast-track the servicing of that site, so that new industry will hopefully go in there. It could do this by working with the chambers of commerce in Dundalk and Drogheda. Would the Tánaiste put a visit to County Louth on his agenda as soon as possible?
Comment on this
I join Deputy O'Dowd in expressing my concern and regret that PayPal has announced these job losses. Some 135 of them will be my constituency and 172 will be in Deputy O’Dowd’s constituency. The company has given a commitment that it is here to stay in Ireland and will continue to have over 2,000 people employed in west Dublin, Louth and other parts of the country. We are ambitious about the IDA Ireland land bank in Drogheda. It is a really good opportunity to get a major jobs-rich investment into Drogheda, which is of course the biggest town in Ireland. I look forward to visiting Drogheda in the near future, hopefully with a view to making a positive announcement.