Members of the Northern Assembly have backed an amended motion calling on the Executive to devise a return to work strategy for the 927 workers who are to lose their jobs at the Seagate computer components plant in Limavady, Co Derry.
They also unanimously called for the inward investment agency Invest Northern Ireland to outline what measures it intends to implement to deal with "actual and potential job losses in the north west".
Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Nigel Dodds told the Assembly that Seagate had invested some £120 million (€167 million) in the Limavady facility which produced aluminium "substrate" platters, a core component of hard disk drives.
This was supported, he added, by some £216 million (€301 million) in salaries and wages, a further £7.8 million (€10.9 million) expenditure on on-site contracts and a similar amount on other spending in the locality. He said some £16 million (€22.36 million) was taken in income tax, national insurance, the equivalent of PRSI, and in corporation tax.
Mr Dodds pointed to growth projections for the region and cited the achievements of the North West Action Plan which had delivered benefits since 2003 with further benefits to come.
Sinn Féin's Francie Brolly, Assembly member for East Derry, said he doubted whether money invested in the plant could be clawed back. He called for a new tenant for the Seagate factory to be found as soon as possible.
The SDLP's John Dallat, another member from East Derry, criticised the poor levels of infrastructure investment in the constituency and the delays in commencing plans to upgrade rail and road links.
He also called for a lifting of the 6,000 cap on places at the University of Ulster campuses in the north west, a stepping up of decentralisation of civil service jobs and a commitment from all parties to co-ordinate efforts to rebuild the local economy.
In earlier exchanges in the Assembly, Speaker William Hay asked the chair of the health committee, Iris Robinson, to leave the house after she used unparliamentary language.
Mrs Robinson had accused Health Minister Michael McGimpsey of misleading the house and was asked to retract the allegation by the chair.
She refused, claiming it was her duty to speak the truth, and she was told to leave the chamber for the remainder of the day's debates. "I cannot withdraw it, will not withdraw it, because it was the truth I was trying to establish," she said.