THE FALLOUT from Dell's decision to axe two-thirds of its workforce in Limerick will continue for months and will have a knock-on effect for up to 6,000 jobs in the region, business figures have predicted.
Limerick Chamber of Commerce chief executive Maria Kelly last night called for a "high level" immediate response from the Government to the economic situation in the midwest. She said the type of taskforce needed to deal with the "emergency situation" facing the region must be led by people who understood the area.
"You're talking about two-thirds of €140 million [in wages] coming out of the economy and the additional add-on jobs. Of course it's an emergency situation for the region," said Ms Kelly.
"The type of taskforce that needs to be set up is an extremely high-level taskforce that needs to be business-led by people who understand the industry and what's required.
"I certainly wouldn't have as much faith in a group of civil servants sitting around a table who don't understand this region. There needs to be a very high-level immediate response to what happened and the continuing fall-out that we are going to see over the next few months," she said.
Suggestions by Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea that 750 high-skilled jobs could be created in Limerick if talks between the IDA and Dell are successful were again played down yesterday by IDA chief executive Barry O'Leary, who said it was "wrong to speculate about numbers".
"Clearly in the same way as we have done with previous companies, we're trying to get them to do more higher valued activities but I think it would be wrong to speculate about numbers."
Mr O'Dea, a TD for Limerick East, said there was a proposal for bringing high-value jobs to Limerick before the Cabinet, which, he added, would be looked on favourably. Other countries were bidding for the jobs which were in the area of research and customer service.
Limerick's mayor Cllr John Gilligan called for the proposed taskforce to be given a budget similar to that awarded following the recent pork crisis. "When the pig industry went into difficulty almost overnight they were given €180 million . . . There's no point in setting up a taskforce unless it has a budget that at least equals what was given to the pig industry, given that we are facing a huge catastrophe in this area," he said.
More than 20 recruitment companies based in the Limerick and midwest region have offered to assist people made redundant at Dell. Under an initiative proposed by the National Recruitment Federation, the companies have offered to meet with those impacted by the announcement to assist in seeking alternative employment and skills training.
Full details of the companies which are taking part are expected to be published by the federation shortly.