I want to raise yesterday’s devastating news for Waterford, namely the announcement that the Cartamundi plant there will close with the loss of 234 jobs. The factory has been manufacturing board games and cards since 1977, meaning nearly half a century of good, local, unionised jobs. On a recent visit to Waterford with our local councillor Mr. Séamus Ryan, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the union representatives from Cartamundi. The news is really devastating for Waterford. It follows on from confirmation yesterday of 240 compulsory redundancies at Google, an issue I raised already this week. Other job losses have been announced in the tech sector also.

With the number of job losses mounting, what efforts were made in particular to save the Cartamundi jobs and what supports will be put in place for workers, given the devastating news for Waterford this week? The people of Waterford will want to know what IDA Ireland is now doing to secure alternative employment opportunities for the city in light of such a big loss of good jobs.

Our first thoughts are with the workers of Cartamundi and their families. This is very bad news for them. It is obviously completely out of the control of the Government. There are macroeconomic factors. Lower consumer confidence in 2022 resulted in a sharp reduction in demand and significant excess product in the market, so the company decided to close its Irish operation. Our agencies will work with the workers and we will do everything we possibly can to help them to come through this period and, if possible, to secure alternative employment.

The economic recovery since Covid has been substantial and very significant. We now have about 2.6 million people at work. Our target was 2.5 million. The unemployment rate is 4.3% and the rate of youth unemployment is the lowest on record. We will work with the workers to see whether we can secure alternative employment for them.