Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The next matter is from Deputies O'Dowd and Nash.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I assume we have two minutes each. I thank the Minister for meeting with Deputy O'Dowd, Senator McGreehan and me earlier. We communicated to him in stark terms how angry we are at Becton Dickinson and Company's decision to close its plant, which has been in Drogheda for 60 years. There are 176 jobs in the firing lines and many families are affected. The relationship between Drogheda and Becton Dickinson and Company goes back to the sixties. It is an extraordinary relationship. Hardly anybody in our town, the largest town in Ireland, has not had a relationship of one kind or another with that factory. Drogheda is Ireland's largest town and this is the last remaining IDA Ireland-backed manufacturing facility of scale in our town; let that sink in. We need an enterprise task force to address the reality that Drogheda is an IDA Ireland and foreign direct investment backwater. The Taoiseach said to me yesterday that the DART is coming to Drogheda and that the DART is a two-way street. It is, but where is the IDA Ireland policy to invest in jobs in Drogheda? Government enterprise policy seems to be to move as many people as possible out of Drogheda into Dublin to work, which is not good for our community or society. Will the Minister commit to setting up that enterprise task force? The withdrawal of Becton Dickinson and Company will take place over two years. Will the Minister ask the company to reflect on its decision and periodically review it? I do not want to raise the expectations of workers but it is incumbent on the Minister and IDA Ireland to engage with the company to request that it reviews the decision. I understand that as part of a trade mission, the Minister will meet Becton Dickinson and Company in New York next week. I request on behalf of the workers and SIPTU, which wishes to meet him, that he make that request, without raising expectations unfairly of workers.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister. Many good things are happening in Drogheda with IDA Ireland. On 26 June, permission was given by Louth County Council for an advanced unit for new industry to come in. IDA Ireland owns 45 acres of land in Drogheda. There is the recent development of two data centres. Many good things are happening, but bad things are happening as well. The bad news for us is that 170 people, 110 early next year, will depart from Becton Dickinson and Company, which is a fantastic company. It is one of the major international, leading medical companies. That aggrieves me because, as one might guess, my first job 58 years ago was working in the office in Becton Dickinson and Company. I worked there for a year. It was a great company and there were great people there. It promoted local people within the company and internationally. Noel Harmon, who Deputy Nash's father would know, was on the international board of that company. It offered a lot to Drogheda and Drogheda has given it a lot.

My concern about this bad news is that there does not appear to be an early warning system. The Minister was not told about it in time. He could have told us and we could have attempted to persuade or approach people who might be able to help. Nevertheless, the fact is it has made the decision to go. The Minister will be visiting there next week. Perhaps there is a way it can be persuaded, even at this late stage, if there is any further or appropriate intervention we could make. At the heart of that company was a commitment to Drogheda. It was the first place it came to in Ireland. It aggrieves me greatly that it is leaving. We must leave no stone unturned. The pulse, the heartbeat of our State, be it the administrative or political system, must do their best to ensure we make another offer, if one has not been made already. If we cannot, we must work with them to get alternative, appropriate employment there. We need it badly now.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter, which concerns a huge number of people and their families across County Louth, in particular Drogheda, who are impacted by the decision. I met my Oireachtas colleagues and others in relation to this significant news earlier this week. I met officials from IDA Ireland earlier today to discuss this important issue. I reiterate my position and that of the Government on the floor of the House this afternoon. Becton Dickinson UK and Ireland announced that, following an analysis of its network and forecast market demand, it had made the difficult decision to discontinue production at its site in Drogheda over the next two and a half years. The decision will result in phased closure of the Becton Dickinson Drogheda site by the end of quarter 4 of 2026. This will regrettably directly affect 170 people currently employed there. In response, the Government is on hand to support those workers. Our agencies will work to support the employees affected in the period ahead as they pursue alternative employment. This will include sharing the skills profiles of impacted employees with companies who may be hiring, with multinationals in IDA Ireland’s client base and with indigenous companies through Enterprise Ireland. This work has already begun.

I have also scheduled a meeting with the global Becton Dickinson leadership in the US in a fortnight as part of a wider trade and investment mission to the east coast of the United States of America. I will be discussing further this decision as raised by the Deputies.

In parallel, IDA Ireland continues to engage with Becton Dickinson corporate, Becton Dickinson UK and Ireland, and Becton Dickinson Drogheda to assist the company. It has indicated that the company is committed to supporting affected employees. IDA Ireland will also provide introductions to companies that are currently recruiting locally, and will provide support services for affected staff with Skillnet and Solas. IDA Ireland will also work with Becton Dickinson on marketing the site for potential new employers. This will involve IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices working together to see how new employment can be secured for Drogheda and for the Becton Dickinson site in particular. The Government is on hand to support workers. Our agencies will work to support employees affected right across the period ahead.

Factors affecting the decision cited by the company include demand for the company's PosiFlush syringe line, competitiveness pressures, low-cost locations, the desire to right-size to match the company's supply chain, and the availability and capacity of Becton Dickinson locations including those in other locations than Ireland. Staff were notified by the company of its decision yesterday, 3 July, with a formal collective redundancy process to commence. This announcement follows an earlier 2023 decision to reduce the headcount by 60 due to the demand last year. This is very disappointing news for the Drogheda facility that has provided invaluable employment for almost 60 years. The company has indicated that it will continue to employ more than 900 workers in other sites in Enniscorthy, Dublin and Limerick.

Deputy O'Dowd has outlined his particular experience having worked with the company. I assure Deputies that in our proposed meeting, we will do everything we can to work with the company to have them evaluate the decision in the days ahead. I do not want to raise any expectations in connection with that because it is a clear board decision that has been taken on sustainability grounds by the company. As Deputy O'Dowd alluded to, the 50,000 sq. m new advanced factory unit received planning permission on 26 June. The procurement process will now begin to deliver that site and we will ensure that IDA Ireland will aggressively market it. Notwithstanding the efforts that will be made, if this timeline does come to pass IDA Ireland now has a very significant unit, hopefully working with Becton Dickinson if they depart. We will work in a very regulated industry, with a very valuable asset in the current life sciences chain, to work to ensure we get a client to fulfil it and improve the infrastructure and employment in Drogheda.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Burke, for being here to deal with this important matter.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I agree that it is a very important development. We have all been working for years to ensure that IDA Ireland develops the advanced units we need to bring employment to Drogheda. It is now incumbent on IDA Ireland to fast-track that process. Planning permission has been provided and we hope that will move forward very quickly. They confirmed to me yesterday that they are aggressively marketing that to potential international investors. There is an issue with the Donore Road site. If we concede that the company will not review its decision - there is an onus on the Minister to ask it to reassess its decision on behalf of the workers and the people of Drogheda - we must bear in mind that state aid grant decisions made by the Government in 2021 mean that we are very limited in how we can provide grant aid to any future development on the Donore Road site. This decision was initiated by the previous Government and signed off by this one. There was a review of that. I am interested to establish what the review found. Is it the case that the site can be properly resourced in the future? If a future investor is interested in investing on that site, can they receive employment grants, for example?

In conclusion, if the threshold of jobs lost is 200 as well as - possibly - supply chain jobs associated with the plant itself, there is the possibility of applying for funds through the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to assist with upskilling and retraining. Is that an avenue the Minister would pursue in association with the trade unions?

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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It is a shocking blow to the town. I accept the Minister's bona fides in trying to address the issue at this late stage. The fact is that the Taoiseach has promised a task force for Drogheda, which is what I want. I have met with him and we have discussed it with his staff. It will be broader, not in the sense of including jobs but including this as a key issue. Very shortly - around 16 July - I expect the Taoiseach to meet with people who are interested in this matter to discuss how we do that. The task force is very important.

This decision was made and the company was very clear on it. They talked about their Irish board, not their international board. Is there room for manoeuvre there? It is just an issue for me. If the Minister is going to the international headquarters, perhaps there is an opportunity to make a different play that might be listened to with different ears and with a different outcome. I also want to know if there is an issue around water and the cost of water. Is that one of the issues they notified to IDA Ireland? I understand the company has given IDA Ireland a critique of why they are moving out of Drogheda. We need to know that. I ask the Minister to place this on the record of the House or give it to us. We can address those issues if we know what they are.

At the end of the day we value the work force and we value the jobs, but we also value the company. I want to stress that. They have made a very significant contribution and I think they have huge potential as a leading advanced medical technology company. There is room for them in Drogheda and we will do whatever we can to help them.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I take on board both points made by Deputy Nash and both points made by Deputy O'Dowd in connection with this. I reiterate that the families of all those affected and those workers are to the forefront of our minds because it is a very significant employer that has had a generational impact within the town of Drogheda, and indeed beyond.

The national planning framework sets out a very significant designation for Drogheda to achieve capital investment into the future. We will be absolutely committing to working with the Taoiseach and others to ensure that happens. It is very important to the region. This has been demonstrated by the advanced factory unit getting planning permission on 26 June. There is work ahead to market it. We will work with Becton Dickinson into the future as well in its other locations. We will also try to see what we can do when we discuss it with management. I am happy to meet with SIPTU to see what can be achieved through the globalisation fund, but the bar is significantly high in connection with that.

On the state aid aspect, it is very clear in the European Union rules that funding a current industry or a current production line is quite different from if one has a new company moving in. IDA Ireland has a lot of tools in its armoury that it can release to try to get new clients in. We will support them to do just that.

In the wider context, the issue that was raised front and centre with me and brought to my attention is the changes in the supply chain. From a sustainability perspective, quite a proportion of their market is US based and they are moving the plant on that basis. We have all seen the stress we are under with our competitiveness. This is why we have a capital infrastructure programme of €165 billion out to the next decade. Water needs to be improved upon right around the country. I note that the regulators came out saying they need a 70% increase in price. That is very significant. I have written to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Hermitage in connection with that. We need to ensure we are remaining competitive. That is a big concern in the economy. We must keep improving our grid infrastructure, our water and our wastewater. There is a huge amount of work to be done in that regard. We will obviously do that and play our part as I have done in the 13 weeks I have been in this job.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister for taking this matter.