This article is from page 10 of the 2006-11-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
THE Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Michael Martin has brought before the Dáil, legislation that will bring about the transfer of 40 staff from Shannon Development to Enterprise Ireland by January 1 next.
The move will reduce Shannon Development numbers from 175 to 135 and allow the company to concentrate on securing foreign direct investment for the Shannon Free Zone and promoting tourism in the region.
On unveiling the Industrial Development Bill 2006, Minister Martin told the Dáil: “Shannon Development and Enterprise Ireland are well advanced in identifying the number of posts to be transferred. Shannon Development staff and their representatives are engaging positively with the process and I understand that a strong level of interest is being expressed by staff in transferring to Enterprise Ireland.”
Minister Martin said that the bill provided “a statutory guarantee to the staff who are so designated that their pay, conditions of service and pension arrangements shall not be diminished by virtue of the transfer”.
He added: “The specific activities that Shannon Development will undertake will be selected on the basis of its potential to generate significant economic impact locally, regionally and nationally.
With the more focussed remit that it now has, the company will be in a position to meet the new challenges the region faces.”
In response to the bill coming before the Dáil, Pat Breen (FG) confirmed that Fine Gael supported.
He said: “It is unfortunate that so much time has gone by since the Minister originally made the announcement 16 months ago that he was stripping Shannon Development of these traditional enterprise creation functions.
“The original decision was made in July 2005 amid widespread criticism, and last month Deputy Martin chose to do a part u-turn on the issue and decided to allow Shannon Development to retain its enterprise functions within the Shannon Free Zone.
“Not only has none of the enterprise strategy group recommendations been implemented, but it has taken a year for the legislation to catch up. It shows that enterprise creation in Clare is in a mess.”