Minister O’Keeffe announces Dan Flinter as chair of Quinn Insurance inter-agency team

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD, today [Wednesday] announced that former chief executive of Enterprise Ireland Dan Flinter is to chair the inter-agency team set up to coordinate the activities of the State’s job creation and training agencies following the Quinn Insurance redundancies.

Minister O’Keeffe made the announcement following a meeting today in Cavan with worker representatives of the company.

Minister O’Keeffe described Mr Flinter’s appointment as ‘an important signal of the importance the Government attaches to our coordinated and speedy response to the voluntary redundancies in Quinn Insurance.

‘Mr Flinter has played a key role in the development of Irish industrial policy and his calibre and expertise will be significant assets in our efforts to meet the needs of workers in Quinn Insurance who are losing their jobs.

‘I want to thank Mr Flinter for accepting the appointment and I look forward to working with him,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

The inter-agency team will co-ordinate the activities of Enterprise Ireland, FÁS, IDA Ireland, relevant County Enterprise Boards, the Department of Social Protection, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.

Officials from these agencies are now on site in the affected areas leading a coordinated response to the voluntary redundancies.

Separately, Minister O’Keeffe said he had been in contact yesterday with his Northern Ireland counterpart, Arlene Foster MLA, about drawing down European Union funding under the cross-border Interreg Programme for training initiatives and start-up business supports in the affected areas.

‘Officials on both sides met yesterday are they are now working on a funding proposal which will be submitted to the Interreg Programme when the next call for proposals is made in September,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

Over the past number of weeks, Minister O’Keeffe has met worker representatives several times.

‘This engagement has helped us to frame the Government response to the Quinn Insurance redundancies.

'The Government is very conscious that the Quinn Insurance workers who are losing their jobs are high calibre and highly skilled.

'With that in mind, €1 million will be set aside from the Government's labour market activation programme to develop tailored responses for workers who lose their jobs in Quinn Insurance.

‘The Government is taking concrete steps to rebuild confidence in the local economy, attract fresh investment and prepare those out of work to get back into the labour force quickly,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

Minister O’Keeffe was joined at the meeting today by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith TD, and representatives from State job creation and training agencies.

ENDS