Ministers agree to the setting up of a European Globalisation Fund to help redundant workers

Mr Tony Killeen, T.D., Minister for Labour Affairs has welcomed agreement at EU level to establish a European Globalisation Fund.

This Fund will become operational at the start of next month with up to half a billion euro available to it each year. This sum will be realised from savings elsewhere in the Community budget.

The fund will be available primarily where at least 1,000 redundancies arise in either a single enterprise - including its suppliers and associated downstream producers- or in a number of small and medium sized enterprises operating in a given region^.

Countries such as Ireland that have relatively small labour markets will also be eligible to benefit even where the above redundancy thresholds have not been met but where, nonetheless, redundancies have a serious and negative impact at a local level on employment and on the local economy.

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund will contribute up to 50% of the costs of active labour market measures taken to re-integrate redundant workers into the labour force. This support will include assistance in seeking alternative employment and with training and retraining for individual workers who lose their jobs.

Referring to the fund Minister Tony Killeen said: “It is important that the primary focus of this European Globalisation Fund is on meeting the skills development needs of workers who are facing or experiencing redundancy. This is in line with the importance I attach to ensuring that such workers are given every support to ensure they can re-enter the workforce as quickly as possible”.

In this respect, the Minister particularly welcomed the fact that this additional source of funding is now being made available at European level. He also indicated satisfaction at the fact that the provisions that govern access to the Globalisation Fund have taken account of concerns that he expressed in the course of the negotiations. These now provide for access to funding on a more equitable basis for countries with smaller scale businesses in employment terms.

ENDS/LA 224

Thursday 28^th December 2006