Madam, - Your edition of March 7th reports that two Procter & Gamble holding companies based in Dublin, "neither of which employed any direct staff, recorded profits of €1.15 billion in 2005". Yet the company proposes to make a significant number of staff at its profitable Nenagh plant redundant. This development highlights once again the amoral attitude of multi-national companies to labour.
While low corporation tax may attract multinational investment, there is no apparent quid pro quo or sense of responsibility to the nation state concerned or its labour force. The workers of Proctor and Gamble in Nenagh can attest this fact. Many have given most of their adult working lives to Proctor and Gamble and now face a decidedly uncertain future with only a minimum of notice and consultation.
This country is used as an offshore low tax haven for multi-nationals to repatriate profits to the parent company, usually in the US. If the Government insists on pursing the policy epitomised by the slogan "Closer to Boston than Berlin" and continues to facilitate this arrangement, it should at the very least ensure that civilised norms of industrial relations and human dignity are respected in such instances. - Yours, etc,
SEÁN and RÓISIN WHELAN, Ormond Keep, Nenagh, Co Tipperary.