This article is from page 8 of the 2005-09-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
ENTERPRISE, Trade and Employment Minister Micheal Martin is to enter into a process of discussions with unions representing Shannon Development about the company’s future, follow- ing a meeting of the parties last week.
Talks involving SIPTU, the NUJ, the Minister and his of- ficials will commence over the coming weeks and are not expected to end until at least October.
A spokesperson for the unions told The Clare Peo- ple they would be asking the Minister to justify his pro- posal to transfer its industrial portfolio to the IDA.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, on a visit to Clare on Saturday, sought to justify his Muinis- ter’s decision.
“The analysis, which is in the public domain, was that this was the best way forward and the Government made a decision on that basis. It’s a democracy and people are entitled to put forward their counter views and they have done that, and I understand Minister Martin is looking at those issues,” he said, after
meeting a deputation from Shannon Development.
Radical proposals from SIPTU to overhaul the role and structure of Shannon Development, including the abolition of its present board, were rejected by the Govern- ment.
The SIPTU document was lodged prior to Minister Martin announcing a reduced mandate for Shannon Devel- opment in July. The Board of Shannon Development also lodged a 10-year plan with the Miunister. Both papers were ignored.
The SIPTU document stated serious concern about the reasons behind the Gov- ernment’s focus on changing Shannon Development.
“We are deeply concerned that an overly simplistic, al- most chess-like game with the company and the Shan- non region’s future is being played out from a remote dis- tance in Dublin. In our view, this is motivated by an exces- sive and dangerous over-con- centration on the neatness and tidiness of admiunistra- tive structures.”
It proposed a more inclusive board, with members drawn from organisations such as IBEC, the Mid-West Region-
al Authority, the Shannon Airport Authority and local chambers of commerce.
Reduced staff numbers, from 165 to 120/130 through voluntary redundancy and natural wastage, were also eebaviteee
It claimed that rents from properties in the Shannon Free Zone accruing to the agency, amounted to a net figure of between €lm and €1.5m, rather than the €6 million previously thought. The figure doesn’t take into account the substantial capi- tal investment that the Shan- non Free Zone requires.
Among the new roles for the agency, the paper pro- posed Shannon Development would undertake major new development projects in stra- tegic areas of opportunity such as the Burren.
The document stressed that the “new role for Shannon Development will not result in any duplication with other national, regional or local public bodies.
It envisaged a dedicated unit of experienced people, solely concerned with find- ing and building relation- ships with new private sector investors, in Ireland, Europe and, in particular, the USA.