Taoiseach Enda Kenny has refused to be drawn about the threat to hundreds of job losses at insurance giant Aviva.
Mr Kenny told the Dáil he had not been in touch with Aviva’s management about the potential job losses.
He said the company had announced it was going through a restructuring phase. "I don’t want to comment until such time as they arrive at their conclusions having carried out their analysis."
He added: "The IDA, who are in contact with Aviva, cannot make any sort of judgment about the future until such time as the company itself makes its own decisions in respect of its review, which it is carrying out."
Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, who raised the issue, told the Taoiseach: “I don’t accept your position that you have had no contact with Aviva. You pass the buck to the IDA. Hundreds of jobs are now under threat. What will you do about it? It is not sufficient to pass the buck to another agency.”
The Dublin Central TD said: “If you are so appalled, if you are so concerned to keep people in work and get people back to work, get cracking now and make sure that those jobs in Aviva are secured. And match your rhetoric with action.”
Mr Kenny said: “The Government has been cracking since we were appointed and given a mandate by the people. That’s why we called back all the ambassadors and diplomatic people around the world. That’s why the Tánaiste today is in New York, the Minister for Enterprise and Innovation and Jobs is in the United States. That’s why we have had direct contact with businesses both at home and abroad to rebuild this country’s reputation.”
He added that the level of unemployment was unacceptable, which was “why the entire focus of this Government is to rectify our public finances, restore our economic sovereignty, create jobs and put out there are very clear understanding that this Government is open for business, is for business, is pro-initiative”.