Teva Pharmaceuticals in Waterford City have just announced 350 job losses over the next year from their 750 strong workforce. This is another devastating blow for the city from a profitable company which has been here for quite some time. Reports abound that the company is transferring to cheaper locations in Eastern Europe.
Other than mere platitudes - calls for task forces (has one ever delivered anything, anywhere??) and the like what does Waterford need to do to try and stem this tide of redundancies and try and build up for the future?
In my opinion there are some things that can be done. Whether anyone has the gumption to actually do them or not is the question. What are those things?
A University for the South East. Lets face it, Universities attract investment and jobs. Just look at Galway which was a small town of 15,000 people which has grown through investment to over 70,000.
Waterford Crystal. The Waterford Crystal brand is still huge. Government investment needs to come to the city to bring those showrooms and some manfacturing jobs right into the heart of the city. Those tourists are still coming. We need to make sure that they still come and that they deliver more for Waterford and a move to the city centre would achieve that.
A constraint on planning objections (it may well be too late for this one). Planning delays and objections - headed up by zealots and even (can you believe it) by people who are elected now to Waterford City Council, caused so much delay to some projects that they have not started and those delays have by extension cost this city thousands of jobs.
Government investment. The Government is going to have to stimulate the economy of Waterford and indeed Ireland though strategic investment to underline its own policy of Gateways driving growth in their regions.
Airport investment. If you are a company looking for a site there are certain things you are looking to be ticked off. University; tick? Airport; tick? If international access is not available then where is it available.
Re-organising of local government to ensure that the Gateways are not diluted by parish pump politics which threatens the sustainability of a region.
Other than mere platitudes - calls for task forces (has one ever delivered anything, anywhere??) and the like what does Waterford need to do to try and stem this tide of redundancies and try and build up for the future?
In my opinion there are some things that can be done. Whether anyone has the gumption to actually do them or not is the question. What are those things?
A University for the South East. Lets face it, Universities attract investment and jobs. Just look at Galway which was a small town of 15,000 people which has grown through investment to over 70,000.
Waterford Crystal. The Waterford Crystal brand is still huge. Government investment needs to come to the city to bring those showrooms and some manfacturing jobs right into the heart of the city. Those tourists are still coming. We need to make sure that they still come and that they deliver more for Waterford and a move to the city centre would achieve that.
A constraint on planning objections (it may well be too late for this one). Planning delays and objections - headed up by zealots and even (can you believe it) by people who are elected now to Waterford City Council, caused so much delay to some projects that they have not started and those delays have by extension cost this city thousands of jobs.
Government investment. The Government is going to have to stimulate the economy of Waterford and indeed Ireland though strategic investment to underline its own policy of Gateways driving growth in their regions.
Airport investment. If you are a company looking for a site there are certain things you are looking to be ticked off. University; tick? Airport; tick? If international access is not available then where is it available.
Re-organising of local government to ensure that the Gateways are not diluted by parish pump politics which threatens the sustainability of a region.
These are just some of the things that I believe could make a real difference.
How do we get those things? Our Government TD's. If they can't put Waterford before party politics at this stage then why are they there? If it were me I would be threatening to bring down the Government at this stage over the University issue alone - not to mention all the other issues.
How many more job loss announcements can this city afford? Every job lost has a huge ripple effect in the wider community. When do we cross the line in the sand?
Give us our University now. It is a huge tool in attracting and developing a region. Invest in Waterford Crystal. Invest in our Airport. Invest according to your own National Spatial Strategy. Stop amateur objecters costing us jobs. Extend the City administrative area.
Do I think that any of this will happen? If it doesn't we're in even bigger trouble than we should be. Does anyone have the heart for the fight? Do the people that are in those crucial positions? If not, what are their solutions. What can they do to help Wateford? Ask them. Ask the question: what does Waterford need to get itself out of this situation and what are you going to do to deliver it?
If I was in a position to deliver: I would. Waterford first. Not party. Not power. Some things are more important.
Ask.
(Photo shows Teva Pharmaceuticals HQ in Jerusalem)
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