Urgent Government action was called for by Siptu yesterday to deal with the "jobs crisis" in Donegal following the decision by Hospira to close its plant with the loss of 560 jobs.
However, the Government and job creation agencies are likely to resist calls for a taskforce or action group to be set up in response to the job losses.
Hospira, a US-owned medical devices company, announced on Tuesday that its Donegal town factory is to close in about 18 months. Products made there will instead be produced in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, where manufacturing costs are lower, the company said.
Siptu's Donegal branch secretary, Seán Reilly, said Government action was needed to deal with an "appalling and escalating jobs crisis" in the county. Since the late 1990s, about 6,000 jobs had been lost in Donegal, while only 1,000 were created, he said.
"Donegal is the unemployment blackspot in the country and urgent action is needed now by the Government and its agencies to secure sustainable replacement jobs for the county.
"The people of the county are entitled to no less," he added.
A call for an action group to be set up to address the issue was made yesterday by Ernan McGettigan, chairman of Donegal Town Community Chamber of Commerce. He said a small action group, not a taskforce which could turn into a "talking shop", was needed to deliver urgent results.
Job creation agencies and Government sources insisted, however, Donegal was getting priority attention.
A spokeswoman for IDA Ireland said Donegal had been a "primary target location" for all of its agents overseas for the past number of years, and this would continue to be the case.
Boston Scientific, Pramerica, PacifiCare and Sita were among the major international companies located in Donegal with IDA support, she said.
She dismissed suggestions the county's remoteness from Dublin made it difficult to sell to foreign investors. Its distance from the capital was not an issue for US multinationals.
IDA Ireland chief executive Seán Dorgan, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, challenged the perception that employment in Donegal was falling. He said the county had "taken quite a few blows" in recent years, losing a lot of jobs in textiles in particular, but there were more people employed there than 10 years ago.
While he could not say there was a specific replacement for Hospira in the pipeline, he was hopeful there would be new opportunities for the 560 workers losing their jobs.
News of the Hospira closure was described as "deeply disturbing" by the Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Dr Ken Good.
"For over a quarter of a century, this factory and the local community have been mutually dependent on each other, and it is distressing to learn that the work of so many loyal employees can now be brought to an end so abruptly."
Bishop Good said he trusted that co-operative efforts would be made by all of the relevant agencies to ensure the employment prospects of people in south Donegal were protected.
