Initiatives needed to reduce impact of job cuts

Following the recent swathe of job cuts in the north west, former Finance Minister Sean Farren has called for more local initiatives between education and the workplace so as to reduce the impact of redundancies.

Speaking to the Derry Chamber of Commerce today, Mr Farren said: "Training to anticipate change is imperative if we are to provide workers in vulnerable workplaces with alternative employment opportunities.

"Recent experience in the north west is teaching the salutary lesson that it is too late to start training when the gates are closing."

Mr Farren went on to say that the focus must be on "developing viable clusters of enterprises producing goods with high added value using skills and qualifications of highly educated workforce".

Elsewhere, the Mayor of Derry, Councillor Kathleen McCloskey, has welcomed Invest NI’s short-term proposals to run a series of workshops on an inter-agency basis for those affected by the latest round of redundancies in the north west.

Following a meeting yesterday with senior officials from Invest NI, Ms McCloskey said she was "encouraged" by Invest NI’s commitment to provide the workers with information on re-training and re-employment opportunities that may be available.

She added: "I do believe, however, that more needs to be done to address this serious problem and together with representatives of the other parties on council I will be continuing to put pressure on key government bodies such as Invest NI to follow this through.”

The Mayor also told Invest NI officials that the latest round of redundancies in the north west has deeply affected many workers and their families. She added that the local economy, and the local community, would also "suffer greatly" as a result of the loss of over 600 jobs in the city and county within such a short period of time.

The Mayor went on to urge the Employment Minister Ian Pearson to respond to her request to receive a Mayor-led cross-party council delegation to discuss the situation.

“It is vitally important that council gets an opportunity to meet with the Minister and impress upon him the seriousness of the jobs situation in the north west and to find out from him directly how government proposes to address the serious problems facing the local economy,” she said.

The Mayor added she would meet again with Invest NI within two weeks to ensure the momentum is maintained.

(GMcG)