Shannon Aerospace job losses

EDITORIAL

THE details of over 100 jobs losses were due to be officially outlined to staff at Shannon Aerospace this Thursday morning. The aircraft maintenance company, a subsidiary of the global Lufthansa Technik AG based in Hamburg, employs close on 800 people in a purpose-built facility at Shannon Airport.

Shannon Aerospace was not prepared to discuss the issue in advance of speaking with the workforce but a spokesperson confirmed that the company would be making a statement in relation to a “reorganisation of the company and announcing plans for sustaining a viable business in the Shannon Region”. There was no denial of job losses, however, when The Clare Champion contacted the company. 
Operating at Shannon since 1992, Aerospace specialises in the maintenance and overhaul of aircraft from Airbus, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. Employing a highly trained workforce, the loss of 100 jobs in such a reputable company will, no doubt, have a negative ripple effect in terms of impact on support companies and a further undermining of confidence in the region.
Fine Gael TD Pat Breen got no joy when he tried to raise the issue in the Dáil on Wednesday in an effort to find out if problems at Shannon Aerospace had been flagged with Taoiseach Brian Cowen or Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe and what they planned to do. He didn’t get any answer from the Taoiseach as he was ruled out of order by Ceann Comhairle Seamus Kirk.
Mr Breen says an explanation is needed as to what has gone wrong given that in May, Shannon Aerospace announced it was expanding its services after being given new design responsibilities.
Minister O’Keeffe, with the support of all politicians in the Mid-West and employment agencies, must respond to the call for action and see what it will take to stave off the job losses at Shannon Aerospace.

Financial crisis worsens
THINGS have gone from bad to worse. The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan warned us almost a year ago to expect €3bn in cutbacks in the 2011 Budget as part of the overall plan to aid economic recovery.
In recent months, the figure has been revised on a number of occasions and now some political and economic analysts believe the clawback in public spending, together with increased taxation, could be in the region of €6bn.
Initially, Mr Lenihan was talking in terms of €3bn in cutbacks this year, followed by €2bn in 2012, €1.5bn in 2013 and €1bn in 2014, totalling €7.5bn. Under the revised targets, the cuts over the next four budgets could amount to between €10bn and €15bn.
The Department of Finance said this week it believed gross domestic product (GDP) for 2010 would be 2.5% below its projected level. Last December, the Government believed that spending in the economy (GDP), would amount to €161bn this year.
Owing to statistical revisions to GDP for 2009 and 2010, the department believes the 2010 figure will be €157bn.
Health, social welfare, community services and a raft of grant supports are areas that will take a pummelling.
The financial crisis has been the subject of intense political debate with the Opposition feeling stonewalled in getting information.
However, on Wednesday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his coalition soul mate, Green Party leader, John Gormley met with the main Opposition party leaders, Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore in an effort to achieve common ground in their response to the public finances crisis.
Mr Cowen is now, it appears, most anxious to take the views of the Opposition parties into account in the preparation of the Government’s four-year budget plan. 
The meeting followed weeks of considerable angst on the Opposition benches with claims that the Government was not giving them a complete picture of the depths to which the economy has plummeted. TDs were screaming for full disclosure, not just edited highlights as presented by the Department of Finance.
In the past couple of weeks, the Opposition parties have been on a major offensive, accusing the Government of being unable to get things right in calculating our financial deficit and being unwilling to come clean as regards how much pain we can expect to feel in December’s Budget.
John Gormley’s offer a couple of weeks ago to seek political consensus in preparing for the Budget backfired with the majority stakeholder in Government, Fianna Fáil not too happy with his approach. Things have come around again but the difference is Fianna Fáil is leading the initiative, or at least that’s the way it’s being presented.
Following extensive briefings by the Department of Finance for the Opposition parties, the Taoiseach, in the Dáil on Tuesday, extended his offer for a leaders’ meeting to consider ways to address the nation’s financial crisis. He suggested that confidence in the economy by investors and lenders would be influenced by shared understanding and commitment within the Irish political system. He added that this did not diminish the importance of legitimate difference and the respective responsibilities of Government and Opposition.
Mr Cowen decision to extend the olive branch across the floor of Dáil Éireann didn’t save him from a bit of a mauling.
“This party [Fine Gael] will play its part in responding to this national crisis and we will produce a response to it. But we will not do so on the basis of what the Taoiseach tells us anymore because every figure produced by the Department of Finance and the Government has been wrong,” Mr Kenny challenged.
“The Taoiseach wants the Opposition to solve the problem for him,” declared Mr Gilmore. “He wants the people of the country to pay for it and meanwhile, he wants to stay in office. Does he seriously expect us to agree to this?”
Hopefully, Wednesday’s meeting will see constructive ideas being pursued, no matter what party they comes from, and that it will not be remembered as a cosmetic exercise on the part of the Government.