MINISTER FOR Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton will travel to Waterford today where he will meet workers from telecoms company TalkTalk who were informed by management last week that they are to lose their jobs.
All 575 staff at the TalkTalk site in the IDA Industrial Estate on the Cork Road in Waterford are set to lose their jobs within 30 days when the British-headquartered company outsources the business to a number of other firms.
Mr Bruton will also meet management at the plant amid growing anger over the manner in which the staff were informed of the impending closure despite the Waterford operation being a profitable part of the TalkTalk operation.
Mr Bruton, who spoke with TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding after the company’s decision, was last week critical of the speed with which the company decided to close the Waterford site and the manner in which workers were informed of the news.
“This decision to close within 30 days, I think is too abrupt. It’s not fair to people,” said Mr Bruton who will also meet with local business and political leaders during his visit to Waterford today.
“We need to see the opportunity for IDA to search for alternatives, and I repeat the request now that the company gives more time so that we can turn over every stone and make sure that we give this facility and the workers there a chance of finding replacement employment.”
A spokesman for TalkTalk said it intends to “stick to” its 30-day timetable but is open to suggestions or opportunities from the Minister and IDA.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said Ms Harding was not relenting on the 30-day closure proposal when he spoke to her by phone on Saturday. “As of today, the 30-day closure stands,” said Mr Gilmore after he travelled to Waterford on Saturday and, together with local Labour TD, Ciara Conway, met staff who are to lose their jobs.
Mr Gilmore confirmed there was no advance notice of the closure given to the Government before Wednesday when TalkTalk made the announcement and when he first heard mention of a jobs announcement, he assumed it was to be a “good news” story.
“I got a message, a phone call to my office, saying somebody wanted to pass on information to me about a jobs announcement in Waterford. The way it was communicated to me, it sounded to me like it was going to be a good news jobs announcement.