The Government was accused yesterday of breaking faith with former Irish Steel workers on the terms of their redundancy package.
The Fianna Fail spokeswoman on enterprise and employment, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said the EU had provided £300,000 to help the workers adapt to the loss of their jobs. The Government was to provide matching finance, according to Ms O'Rourke.
She said the Government was attempting to have the original minimum redundancy terms regarded as the matching finance. Commitments entered into by the Government during the Dail debate on the Irish Steel Bill were being ignored, Ms O'Rourke added. She said the Dail had been misled and she would be raising this with the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton.