European funding approval to provide a lifeline to more than 2,400 workers in the Mid West – Dooley

Posted on 21/09/09 by Timmy Dooley

The funding was announced during a visit by the EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso to Clare and Limerick at the weekend. It is the largest ever funding approved under the EU’s European Globalisation Fund and will be used to retrain and up-skill workers in the region affected by the recent Dell move.

 

 

€14.8 million of the funding will be provided by the European Union and the remaining €8 million will be provided by the Government.

 

 

President Barroso also visited Shannon Airport during his time in the Mid West for a special sitting of the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs at the invitation of Deputy Dooley, who is the Vice Chair of the Committee.

 

 

“President’s Barroso’s confirmation that our application for €22.8 million under the European Globalisation Fund has been approved is hugely positive for the entire Mid West region.”

 

“The closure at Dell was devastating and its effects were far reaching. This fund is the largest of its kind to ever be approved and it will provide a lifeline for workers affected.”

 

“Former Dell employees as well as those from ancillary businesses Banta Global Turnkey, Irish Express Cargho, Cube Printing, Rehab Logistics, RPS Engineering Services, Sodexo, Serum and Novo Strat will benefit from the funding. In total it is thought that more than 2, 400 people are expected to be affected. ”

 

 

“The funding will be used to roll out a range of measures to help retrain and up-skill the workers through Government agencies such as FAS, Enterprise Ireland, the VECs and the third level institutions in Limerick.”

 

 

“The European Globalisation Fund has a budget of €500 million until 2013 to assist workers across the EU who are affected negatively by the impact of globalisation.  This significant assistance for the Mid West region at this time is further proof of the benefits to be gained from working with our European partners,” Deputy Dooley said.

 

 

Deputy Dooley also paid tribute to the ongoing work being conducted by the Mid West Task Force under the chairmanship of Denis Brosnan;

 

“The Mid West Task Force is working hard to ensure that the Mid West recovers from this blow. This funding will help it significantly in its work and I will keep in touch with both Mr Brosnan and all the relevant educational agencies in the region in the coming weeks and months to monitor how their work is progressing,” Deputy Dooley concluded.