Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Sir Reg Empey has met trade union officials at Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyard for talks about the company's future. The yard, which employs 1,800 full-time employees and more than 1,500 contract workers, is currently involved in the construction of two deepwater drillships for the Texas conglomerate, Global Marine, but has no new orders on its books.
Sir Reg, who released £2.7 million sterling (€4.36 million) in intervention aid shortly after he was appointed to his ministerial post, described the yard as being "of major strategic and operational importance to the Northern Ireland economy". He said the meeting had given him the opportunity to outline the steps which needed to be taken to assist management in competing for new shipbuilding contracts.
"We also explored with the unions a number of other initiatives to help the company at this difficult time," he said.
Sir Reg said that since then he had discussed the matter with Secretary of State Mr Peter Mandelson, who had undertaken to follow up on issues raised by the company about the UK policy on intervention grant aid and on work for the Ministry of Defence.
The company was currently in the running for a number of contracts and he was in close touch with management over the progress of the various bids, Sir Reg added.
"I am aware of the financial proposals being developed by Harland and Wolff, involving a number of parties," he said. "We are doing all we can, within EU rules, to support the company."
