EUROPE SUPPORTS COUNTRIES STEALING JOBS FROM EACHOTHER

Fergus Byrne,Sinn Féin representative in Balbriggan, expressed his and Sinn Féin's outrage at the latest rediculous decision of the European Commission. The Commission has just given the green light to the Polish government to grant €54.5m in aid for a factory. This is the same factory to which giant US company Dell is moving production from Limerick with the loss of 1900 jobs.

The EU Competition Authority claimed the aid was compatible with EU rules.

“Our assessment shows that the project’s contribution to regional development and job creation in a disadvantaged region of Poland outweighs any potential negative effects”, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.
“For cases like this, which could present a high risk of distorting competition and where job losses in other member states have been pointed to, we need to conduct a detailed economic analysis of the market and of the impact of the aid before taking a decision”, she added.

Early this year Dell announced it was relocating to Lodz with the loss of 1,900 jobs in Limerick.

The Commission claimed its investigation had shown that job losses in Ireland would not be a consequence of the aid granted by the Polish authorities to the Lodz factory.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD said:

“This will be greeted with outrage in Limerick and across Ireland. It is another example of the folly of EU policy which prevents governments from investing in State enterprises to secure jobs but which allows massive subsidies to multinational corporations which abandon workers in one country in order to make greater profits from lower paid workers in another.”

Fergus Byrne said: "This is a decision which has consequences for communities across the whole of Ireland. What is to stop any multi-national from simply shutting down here and moving to Eastern Europe, where they can receive massive grants. What is Fianna Fáil doing to preserve jobs here? How hard is the Government fighting for Irish jobs? This government can spend billions to help its banker and developer friends, but what did they do for the Waterford Glass workers or SR Technics? The answer is next to nothing. We need a government that will fight for our jobs in Europe. We need to say No to Lisbon on Friday so the EU knows we are not a country that can be pushed around and if Fianna Fáil, Labour, Fine Gael and the Greens aren't prepared to push for Ireland's interests, then it must be the people that do that. For that reason I urge everybody to vote NO to Lisbon on Friday.