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€40m application to EU
fund
23.06.10
Coughlan seeks help for
unemployed builders
TANAISTE Minister Mary Coughlan has lodged
application with the EU Commission seeking a fund
worth more than €40m for almost 8,800 workers who
lost their jobs in the collapsed Irish construction
industry.
The Tánaiste said the application to the European
Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was being sought
to support training, upskilling, enterprise supports
and educational opportunities for the many workers
who were made redundant from July 1, 2009 to March
31, 2010.
“The Irish construction sector and its workers have
been particularly hard hit by the effects of the
global economic and financial crisis and the virtual
collapse of the housing market in particular,” she
said. |
“If our EGF application
is successful the provision of retraining, up-skilling
and other active labour market supports will help to
equip these workers with a wider range of skills and
career options and increase their chances of
obtaining employment.”
Under EU rules, the number of redundant workers
assisted must be individually verifiable within a
nine months reference period. This is why the
application only covers those workers impacted
between July 2009 and March of this year. All
previous Irish applications under the EGF have been
in respect of single enterprises such as Dell,
Waterford Crystal and S R Technics. The first two
applications have been |
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approved while the S R
Technics application is still under consideration.
The Tánaiste described the application as
“ambitious” and said it was the result of excellent
co-operation between a large number of Government
departments and State agencies.
“I very much hope that it will be successful and, if
so, it will provide substantial additional funding
for active labour market measures in a sector where
many are young and unskilled at a time when there
are major demands and pressures on the public
finances,” she added.
The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) was
established in 2007 and part-funds active labour
intervention supports for redundant workers. An
annual EU budget of €500m is provided to the EGF. |
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