After HP Inc announced 500 job losses at the Kildare plant, the Irish government has made new investment “a priority”.
RTE reporte that Mary Mitchell O’Connel, Ireland’s Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, said that she is “confident that new business could be brought to north Kildare” after HP Inc decided to close its business there. Staff at the OEM’s site were informed of the closure decision at a meeting on 14 February.
HP Inc said that the decision was made because of “efficiencies and cost savings”, and O’Connor said she has asked for state support for any workers affected, and that the government and foreign investment group IDA “did everything possible” to stop the closure. The IDA had engaged daily and intensively with HP Inc to try to persuade it to keep the factory open, while the country’s Department of Social Protection will talk to employees about their rights and benefits.
The OEM said “the decision to close is not a reflection on its employees in Ireland or the site’s performance”, that it is aware of the “impact the decision will have on employees”, and that it is focusing on “supporting them and identifying opportunities for them”, providing a “programme” to help prepare for the “transition ahead”.
HP Inc’s sales division for printing and personal systems will continue in Ireland, but Allan Shine, Chamber Chief Executive for North Kildare, said “it was devastating news for the families concerned”, and talking on the radio programme RTE Six One, he commented that it was important for all those involved to work together, and was confident the employees would find work.
Ruth Coppinger, AAA-PBP (Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit) TD (Teachta Dála, or representative), said that this situation highlighted the dependence on US and foreign investment in Ireland, and that it showed “the complete lack of a native industrial policy”. Catherine Murphy, Social Democrat for Kildare, said “it would be useful for the Department of Jobs to meet the four local TDs to see what can be done”, and commented that “HP Inc was an important company and a big employer in the area and it would be important to keep some form of manufacturing at the plant”.
Murphy said that the workforce came from far and wide, not just Kildare, while Martin Shanahan, IDA CEO, said that he is “confident that new business can be brought to Leixlip”, noting that the “site is an attractive one and the workforce is highly skilled”, and that the whole site could be sold as a “going concern”, although another idea could be “to have multiple tenants on the site”.
Shanahan also commented that “as of today, we are in contact with companies whom we feel may be a fit for the site. There are multiple activities on the site at the moment, services and manufacturing. It could definitely be sold as a going concern”, despite the efforts being made to save the site he said that “the fortunes of the global print industry had declined”.
Maurice O’Connell, Site Manager for HP Inc, said that “the decision to close the plant was not down to a lack of competitiveness”, and that the company “wants to consolidate manufacturing to fewer sites in order to achieve operational and organisational efficiencies”. He added that staff could be “redeployed” to other sites around the world. Praising the employees at Leixlip, he said that they had “made a great contribution to the company”.
O’Connell was asked about the reaction of the workforce, and said that it had been “a sad and disappointing day for them”, adding that many had been there for 22 years but that they would be offered “an enhanced redundancy package”, although no terms were specified.