CIE 'sell out' sees €23m contract go to Germany
CIE stands accused this week of selling out on Irish workers and exporting jobs to Germany. In a bizarre business decision Irish Rail confirmed that it is importing tens of thousands of concrete sleepers from Germany instead of having them manufactured at their factory in Portlaoise.
In a week that has seen the ESRI forecast 17 per cent unemployment and universal calls to ring fence and retain existing Irish jobs, Irish Rail's new policy will attract sharp criticism. But the company has defended its strategy saying that it is more efficient to outsource the lucrative €23 million contract than to recruit additional staff and adapt their plant to produce the sleepers themselves.
Workers in Portlaoise yesterday angrily rejected the company stance stating that it made no sense whatsoever in terms of the economy, employment or the environment.
"The Government is talking about being patriotic and urging people not to as much as buy a pound of butter in Northern Ireland and here we have a semi-State company sourcing sleepers in Germany, reducing the capacity of their own factory and with thousands going on the dole they simply don't want to take on additional staff," said a spokesman for workers at the Irish Rail plant.
"We're sick of politicians making promises. We had 140 staff here and were regarded as one of the most efficient factories of its kind in the world when at its height in 2000 we had an output of 212,000 sleepers. Now that's down to less than 40,000 sleepers annually and dozens of workers laid off in recent years. We have been on delegations to meet the chairman John Lynch, Martin Cullen when he was the minister; and as recently as December 15th we met with Minister John Moloney and Senator Kieran Phelan in Leinster House. We haven't heard from them since and men who used to work long hard hours here are now down the town drawing the dole. It's the taxpayer's money that's being spent on Transport 21, but it's being spent to pay Turkish workers in a factory in Germany," added the spokesman.
An Irish Rail spokesman outlined that there are currently 17 staff employed at the Portlaoise plant.
"Portlaoise Sleeper Depot provides us with the sleeper output required for our standard maintenance works, about 38,000 per annum. Currently, we are engaged in a number of major capital projects including Kildare Route Project, Western Rail Corridor, Cork-Midleton line, and the Dunboyne commuter line resulting in a short-term peak requirement. It would end up costing Iarnrod Eireann considerably more in the long run to hire additional staff or invest in expanding Portlaoise facilities when the requirement for sleepers above the standard maintenance levels simply will not be there within a couple of years. It should also be pointed out that a significant proportion of the sleepers provided from Germany are of a heavier duty (60kg compared with the normal 54kg) for the intensively used Kildare Route area," explained a company spokesman.
Local councillor James Deegan said the semi-State company should support the Irish economy.
He added: "The company's long-term plans for the Portlaoise plant must now be in doubt as they are unwilling to take on additional staff or install new equipment capable of manufacturing the heavier gauge sleeper and says very little of their commitment to the Irish economy."
Last year Irish Rail received a government subvention of €181m. This year they are being subsidised to the tune of €175m out of a €301m allocation to the CIE group of companies.
- John Whelan
