Almost 700 jobs have been lost in Macroom, Co Cork, as the global downturn in the computer industry continues to bite.
|
General Semiconductors, which is to close its plant employing 670 people, said the closure was brought about by the collapse in demand for its products.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney said she was interrupting her holiday to travel to Macroom and gave a commitment to find a new employer to take General Semi-Conductors's place.
"I have already asked the IDA and FÁS to mobilise their resources to ensure that no time is lost in responding to the closure," she said.
The Tánaiste confirmed she had been aware of the closure since Wednesday when she spoke to the CEO of Vishay Intertechnology, an American company in the process of buying General Semiconductors.
Fine Gael’s spokesperson on enterprise, trade and employment, Mr Charles Flanagan, accused the Government of failing to respond to the downturn in the technology sector, saying "every Friday was becoming black Friday".
"Over the past seven months the Tánaiste has sat on her hands and watched the devastation unfold," he said.
Mr Michael Moynihan, Fianna Fáil TD for the area described the redundancies, to be phased in over the next 30 days, as "heartbreaking".
Paying tribute to the workforce, the TD said: "No words that I or anyone else can offer will make this news less painful to bear."
The company, which manufactures circuit boards at their Macroom facility, laid off 120 workers earlier this year. It has been operating from the north-west Cork town since the mid-80s.