More than 300 jobs were axed in Blanchardstown and Dundalk last week by PayPal, which plans to outsource work and relocate positions to low-wage economies. Did the Taoiseach know that the workers who participated in the redundancy negotiations were those who volunteered themselves but whose names were then picked from a laundry basket by a representative of company management? While PayPal gets to pick those who are best placed to represent it in the negotiations, the employee representatives are left to chance. Does the Taoiseach think this is in line with employment law? Why did the Tánaiste state publicly that the company would aim to make all redundancies voluntary? This is disputed by PayPal workers. The Tánaiste mentioned that he had spoken to representatives of the company. Will the Taoiseach agree with me that it is incumbent on the Tánaiste to meet these workers and hear what they have to say on this and other matters?

This is a matter of enormous difficulty and challenges for the people concerned and my empathy is with the workers who have been identified as being laid off, which is very tough on the workers concerned. Every effort has to be made and this is a huge shock to the staff. I am not familiar with the details the Deputy has announced about the selection methodology but if the Deputy wants to send me the detailed background information-----

If the Tánaiste met the workers he could easily see the detail.

I invite the Deputy to send me a detailed background note on it because sometimes things are said here and when I go back and check it is not always the case. I would welcome it if the Deputy could do that. What is important is that we do everything we possibly can for the workers who will be laid off. The State must immediately work with the workers to find alternative employment if possible. Given the fact that we have over 30,000 vacancies, hopefully we will be able to help the workers to get alternative employment.