THE second phase of the winding down of the Dell plant at Raheen will see upwards of 400 workers laid off this week, bringing the total to 850 over the last eight weeks. One non national employee, who did not wish to be identified, told the Post that morale at the plant was very low at the moment. “There is a lot of talk about the task force which was recently set up, but if one is to be honest about it, there is little likelihood of jobs being found in the immediate future for those of us who have been made redundant”.
There are over 1,100 still employed at Dell, but the vast majority will be on the dole by the end of the year.
A Limerick businessman maintains the impact has yet to be felt.
“It is only from now on that people will realise the full implications of what is happening at Dell. Remember, suppliers are also affected but because numbers are not as high, the same attention is not paid to them”.
Dell is to transfer its Limerick operation to Lodz in Poland over the next few months, with production lines gradually closing down.
Over the last two years, Polish workers were sent to Raheen to become familiar with the operation here and have since transferred back home.
The Lodz plant is believed to be twice that of the Raheen facility.
The task force, set up by the Government, is headed by Denis Brosnan, former head of the Kerry Group.
It could be some time yet before their report is submitted.
