DEPUTY spokesperson for Enterprise Deirdre Clune TD (FG) has expressed her disappointment at the announcement by Pfizers this afternoon to cut 300 jobs at its plants in Loughbeg and Shanbally.

I had heard about the possibility of job losses at Pfizers some time ago and questioned Barry O’Leary, CEO of the IDA. He told me that “in terms of the pharmaceutical industry, from the Cork perspective there will be some pain given the mergers and acquisitions taking place. Its so sad to hear that it has come through so soon for Cork.

This fall out is terrible news for the workers but also for their families and their communities. Already we have 44,000 people unemployed in Cork and this news comes as a further blow to the area.

What we need is real investment in the area and a commitment from the IDA to prioritise Cork for job creation. Mr O’Leary told me that the IDA are aiming to create 60,000 jobs over the next 4 years. If they are serious about that, they need to ensure people are trained for the type of jobs they will be attracting to the area and get people back to work. And soon.

Thankfully, however, there is some good news on the horizon with jobs at Apple, McAfee and Abtran. I just hope that some of these jobs will be made available to the workers made redundant today.