LAST Friday was exactly a year on from Dell’s announcement of 1,900 job losses at its Limerick plant, an announcement that prompted predictions of a dire knock-on effect that would see thousands of more jobs lost in the Mid-West.
A year has passed but Maria Kelly of Limerick Chamber of Commerce feels the worst effects of the job losses might not have been felt yet but could become more apparent soon as redundancy money dwindles from former workers’ accounts.
“People have still had the redundancy money in their pockets and there wasn’t the decline that we thought we’d get over the last year but 2010 could be the year that we really get the full effect,” she told The Clare Champion.
She said that a large number people who lost their jobs have gone on to start their own businesses. “There is a lot of support available to them so it’s not always doom and gloom but it can be very traumatic to lose a job, depending on your stage of life and if you have dependants. Retail has had a very tough year in ’09 but it was buffered by the fact that many people had redundancy money, although people weren’t going to splurge it.”
Ms Kelly said that people from more than 20 nationalities had been employed at Dell and many of these immigrants have since left the Mid-West.
Just before the Dell announcement the number on the Live Register had swelled to 290,000, with 25,915 in the Mid-West. The national figure is now 426,700, with 38,352 in this region.
Clare TD Timmy Dooley said that it’s hard to measure how severe the ripple effect of the Dell redundancies has been, while he defended the Government’s record on protecting jobs in vulnerable industries.
“It’s difficult to identify the full knock-on effect of Dell and to tell which jobs were lost due to other factors. The focus now is to provide stability and the Government are working with companies that are vulnerable through the Employment Subsidy Scheme. That has benefited people, helped to keep some jobs and stemmed the most negative effects.”
He said that a number of agencies are battling to bring new jobs to the Mid-West. “Dell was a huge blow and clearly there hasn’t been any replacement employment found yet.
“I’m very familiar with the efforts of Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development and the IDA, but they’re working in the middle of a recession across the developed world.”

Ex-workers to be contacted over funding opportunities

PEOPLE who have been affected by the jobs blow at Dell and who are eligible to receive support from the European Globalisation Fund (EGF) are set to be contacted over the next fortnight in relation to the programmes and services on offer.
Minister for Labour Affairs, Dara Calleary, said that efforts have already been made to support the newly jobless.
“Much good work has already been done on the ground since last January by the relevant State agencies such as FÁS, Enterprise Ireland, the county and city enterprise boards, the local VECs and third-level institutions in Limerick and the region. This is in order to co-ordinate the efforts of all these agencies in providing further personalised supports such as occupational guidance, jobsearch assistance, training courses, start your own business and entrepreneurship advice and support and accelerated routes into further and third level education.
“FAS has been asked to establish a dedicated EGF co-ordination unit operating out of Limerick. This will ensure that there is the major local and regional focus required to provide assistance on the ground to the redundant workers in question.”
Mr Calleary said that Enterprise Ireland and the relevant county and city enterprise boards would provide start-up, business development and other entrepreneurial support, while FÁS is to establish a number of internships in the region.
The EGF funding amounts to almost €23 million and can be drawn down until June 2011. As well as redundant Dell workers, support will be available to redundant workers from Banta Global Turnkey, Irish Express Cargo (formerly Flextronics), Cube Printing, Rehab Logisitics, RPS Engineering Services, Sodexo, Sercom and Novo Strat.
However, Limerick City Labour TD Jan O’Sullivan said that there is still confusion about how to access the supports and she was critical of the Government’s handling of the matter.
“€22.8 million is now waiting to be issued directly to former Dell workers who wish to either start their own businesses or re-skill and re train so as to re-enter the workplace as soon as possible.  A year on from the devastating announcement and no-one knows how to access the fund.
“Minister Coughlan seems totally detached from dealing in an effective and efficient manner with putting the kind of structures in place so that those qualified to receive the funding can access it in order to pursue the course of action that suits their needs.”
Ms O’Sullivan said that adequate structures for the distribution of the funding don’t exist. “My constituency office is constantly receiving calls from ex-Dell employees who are looking for help and advice as to what they should be doing in order to access this fund.
“The Dell Redundant Workers Association has 1000 people on its books that worked for Dell or one of the ancillary companies. None of us can give any useful advice on what to do because there are no structures in place. I have said from the very start that this fund has to be used for the good of the workers themselves, not for the purposes of any State or educational institution.”
She said it was time for the Government to finally take an active role. “The minister and her Government colleagues did nothing when the dogs on the street knew that Dell was considering ceasing its manufacturing operations and now, when people like my colleague Alan Kelly MEP fight hard to get this EU money after months of lobbying, she has again abdicated her responsibility.
“The clock is ticking in terms of spending this EU fund and with less than 16 months left to draw down the funding, I am calling on Minister Coughlan to meet the workers without delay and set up a process that will do what it is supposed to do, that’s to get people back to work.”