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Redundant Dell workers take up only half of retraining funds

Up to half of $35million available to be returned

By
CATHAL DERVAN,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Friday, July 1, 2011, 8:20 AM
Updated Friday, July 1, 2011, 8:20 AM

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Limerick base of Dell
Limerick base of Dell


Former Dell workers in Limerick have failed to take advantage of a scheme to retrain them after they were made redundant by the American computer giant.

A $35million fund was established to assist workers find new skills after Dell withdraw from Limerick and moved operations to Poland.

The deadline for the European Globalization Fund passed this week and just over half of the money available was drawn down.

Up to $14million will be returned unspent to the EGF after less than 2,000 people fully availed of the grant aid.

The Irish Independent has reported that 2,400 workers applied for grant assistance after the Dell plant closed down but just 1,700 former workers benefitted from the scheme.

Those who did receive funding returned to education or took up training courses with the Irish government’s FAS scheme.

A source told the Independent: “People did not want to utilize it. They thought they could get a cheque or cash and go off and do what they liked with it. That was simply not the case.”

Representatives from the Dell Redundant Workers’ Association claimed to the paper that there were ‘problems with the fund from the first day it was set up and said it was hindered by red tape’.

Chairman Paul O’Connor told the paper that there was a lengthy delay in putting the resources in place.

The scheme was funded by the Irish government and the European parliament and the unspent monies will be refunded proportionally.

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3 Comments

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iliveinireland | Jul 10, 2011, 05:20 PM EDT
Thank you catmando, that was very well said................ i worked in Dell for 10 years,

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catmando | Jul 05, 2011, 12:52 PM EDT
And one more comment...the opening statement about Dell workers having "failed" to take advantage of the fund. All the people affiliated with Dell and all the other companies connected to Dell who lost their jobs deserve better than this interpretation of what happened. The government & Dell FAILED the Dell workers by not being more forthcoming and honest about the inevitable demise of Dell. The government and local politicians FAILED the dell workers by not doing away with the Unnecessary red tape to get funding. There are others that could go into more detail about these Numerous failings. This story is much deeper than your inept article. There are a LOT of good people who put in a lot of time at that factory and they all got steamrolled by Dell and the Irish government.

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catmando | Jul 05, 2011, 11:56 AM EDT
The myth that we could simply get money from the fund was dispelled within the 1st few months of the availability of the fund being announced. A lot of people had trouble availing of the fund and FAS (the gateway for people getting funded) seemed to enjoy people signing up for their courses instead of pursuing other forms of education. FAS courses are somewhat of a joke to be honest. For the ones who decided to take classes at some place like the University of Limerick, you would only get covered for the 1st 2 years of a 4 year degree. How are we supposed to afford the last 2 years? Also, it took around 6 months for the fund to start to be distributed to the ex-dell staff. There's a 2 year time limit on the fund, so by the time anyone could get their hands on the fund there was only 1.5 years left, which also meant most people going to UL were only funded for 1 year. Lastly, it doesn't really matter how much training anyone gets here if there are NO jobs to be found. This wasn't the best written or researched article. I hope your journalistic integrity grows some and doesn't follow the path of the Dell "integrity" that was always plastered everywhere in the factory yet never really made its way into the actual environment.

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