The Government will work vehemently to sustain as many of the 785 jobs to be lost as part of restructuring by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer as possible, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said today.
Speaking during leaders questions in the Dáil, in the absence of Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Ms Coughlan said the IDA had told the Government it was confident a buyer could be found for the three plants Pfizer intended to close, which could prevent redundancies.
“They will be working very closely with Pfizer in that regard,” she said.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Pfizer’s decision to reduce its Irish operation raised further concerns about Ireland's economic competitiveness, particularly in areas regulated by the Government such as telecoms and energy.
He also called on Ms Coughlan and the Government to ensure other multinationals that had invested here intended to stay on.
Ms Coughlan said Pfizer’s decision had nothing to do with the Irish economy. It was driven, she said, by its decision to take over industry rival Wyeth and a global congestion in the pharmaceutical market.
“That is the reason why Pfizer find themselves in a position where they are downsizing globally,” she said. "We are, in fact, much more competitive than we were and more competitive at this moment in time [than] our euro neighbours."
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore asked Ms Coughlan when the Government first became aware of Pfizer’s plans to lay off some 20 per cent of its Irish workforce.
Ms Coughlan said that, while serving as minister for enterprise, she had expressed concern about potential job losses to Pfizer once its takeover of Wyeth was mooted. However, she said she had not yet had a chance to speak to the current Minister for Enterprise, Batt O’Keeffe, about when he heard of the redundancy plans.
Mr Gilmore asked: “Is the Government throwing in the towel on these jobs? Will you try to at least rescue part of the jobs.”
Ms Coughlan said that during the Wyeth takeover and in the time since she, the IDA, Mr O’Keeffe and his department had been working and engaging in supportive discussion about the company’s operations here.
She said the Government and IDA would help with the sale of the three plants that are due to close.
