Claw-Back Call As Hughes Shuts-Down

Millions of pounds in grants have been paid to an east Belfast factory which closed down last week.

Over 200 jobs are to be lost with the closure of the Hughes Christensen drill bit factory in Castlreagh.

That's despite Invest NI revealing that since 1995 the company received £5.4m in grants.

The news came as the Chairman of the Enterprise Committee at Stormont, Alban Maginniss, (pictured) said attempts should be made to see if some of the money could be re-paid.

"In my view, there is a good case for recouping that money."

He was speaking as an angry representative for the trade union Unite accused the company of exporting jobs and technology paid for by the Northern Ireland taxpayer.

Meanwhile, the East Belfast DUP MLA Robin Newton has said the redundancies in the Hughes Christensen plant are a bitter pill for the company's loyal workforce to swallow.

"In the firm's previous round of redundancies I had contact with a number of the staff.

"I also met with DETI Minister Foster and senior staff from Invest Northern Ireland urging them to do all they could to support the company.

"I understand every effort was made to work with the firm's management to secure the future of the business in east Belfast," continued the Stormont Junior Minister.

He said that, for the 210 employees who will face losing their jobs the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) must now move staff onto the premises offering advice on job search, retraining opportunities or benefits entitlement.

"This type of support has been helpful in other similar large scale redundancy cases," he said, yesterday.

"There will be difficult days ahead for many of these reliable and dedicated staff, especially those in the more mature age bracket.

"Everything that can be done must be done to help the employees and their wives, partners and children," he said, insisting that one of the benefits of devolution is the ability to react quickly in this type of difficult situation.

"The Hughes Christensen employees need that 'fast response' from DEL in their current plight," he concluded.

See: NI Engineering Jobs Lost