The closure of Tara Mines came as “a surprise” but it was “no secret” it was under pressure, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said as he told the Dáil the Government want to ensure the facility can be reopened “as soon as possible”.
The owner of Tara Mines in Co Meath said on Tuesday it has shut down production and temporarily laid off 650 workers.
“Due to a combination of factors, the Tara Mine in Ireland will be placed under care and maintenance,” Swedish parent company Boliden said in a statement.
The fall in the price of zinc and increased energy costs have been cited among the reasons for the decision.
Politicians in Meath said the news is “devastating” for the county with former junior minister, Meath West Fine Gael TD Damien English, saying the closure could affect up to 3,000 jobs in the wider economy.
He said the Government had been exploring ways to help the company with its energy costs and there was a meeting scheduled with Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney next week to “tweak” a support scheme.
“We will work with the company to explore all options to secure the long term future of the mine and employment.”
Asked about the status of such deliberations, the Department of Enterprise did not elaborate beyond saying: “The parent company of Tara Mines has identified a range of operational challenges, a decline in the price of zinc, high energy prices, and general cost inflation as contributing factors to the temporary closure.”
Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney said on Tuesday night that the Government “will continue to engage with Irish management and the parent company to try reverse this closure”.
Meath East TD and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee separately told RTÉ “there were a lot of conversations that have been happening looking at how we can support the company”.
She added: “We’re doing everything that we can. But obviously this is a private company. We have to work within state aid rules.
“My focus and that of others are the people who have been temporarily laid off and how we can support them.”
Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín said he had raised the “crisis” in energy costs at Tara Mines with the Government in April.
He said: “I would even ask at this stage that the Government and the minister sit down with Tara Mines and look at what supports can be given to deal with its energy costs.”
In the Dáil Mr Varadkar said the Government is keen to ensure the closure of Tara Mines in Co Meath is temporary and can be reopened “as soon as is possible”.
Mr Varadkar said the Government will work with the company to see what they can do to get it reopened.
The Taoiseach said the announcement came “as a surprise” to Government and also probably local management, who were due to meet Mr Coveney next week.
“There was no indication that this was going to happen in the way it did, all of a sudden,” he said. “The fact that the mine was under pressure, that was no secret…energy prices have gone up, zinc prices have gone down. Everyone knows that and that has been the case for months.”
The Taoiseach said neither energy costs or zinc prices were something that were under direct control of the company or the Government. He said the Government wanted to help, which could involve “putting in place an energy scheme”.
Mr Varadkar also said the Government was “here to help”, in terms of job search, income support, advice on skills, education, enterprise for employees - “all the things that the Government does, will now kick in to make sure that the workers have their rights protected and know what their various options are”.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the announcement had left workers, families and the wider community “reeling”.
“The suspension of operations at the mine is devastating and a body blow that will affect the entire community,” she said.
“Workers are being laid off without pay in a matter of weeks and workers now worry about how they may make their mortgage and what the future will hold.”
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said management of Tara Mines had been “happy to capitalise on the hard work of its employees in Laois and Meath”.
“Yet, when times get tough, it has socialised its debts and put its workers out to pasture and your Government is presiding over a social welfare system not fit to protect workers from the worst impact of the loss of livelihood because there’s no meaningful modern scheme to support and keep them in work,” she said.
Gunnar Nystrom, the general manager of Tara Mines, told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that there were a number of factors behind the decision to temporarily close the operation. These included a drop in zinc prices, high electricity costs, high inflation and other operational issues.
“We’re very sorry, we feel terrible for the decision, but for the future of Tara Mines this is what we had to do. The decision is temporary, we believe that,” he said, adding that he was unable to say for how long the closure would continue.
