Fine Gael Dublin Mid-West Senator, Frances Fitzgerald, has said it is with great sadness that she has learned of the 130 job losses at technology firm, Xilinx in Citywest. "It is with extreme regret that I have learned of the 130 job losses at electronics firm Xilinx in Citywest and my heartfelt sympathies go to the families who will be attempting to cope with the news of their imminent redundancy this evening as there has never been a more difficult time to try to find work in Ireland. "People are already pinned to their collars in attempting to make ends meet, and even more so now since the introduction of the Supplementary Budget. The fact that some of the jobs being lost are to be moved to the company's operations in Singapore is further evidence of how Ireland's sliding competitiveness is draining the life blood from our labour force. "The Government missed a golden opportunity in the Budget last week to implement a job creation strategy to drag Ireland out of the slump. Instead it focused on taxing families to the hilt and introduced a series of measures which will drive consumer confidence downwards and ultimately destroy jobs. "Fine Gael, in our pre-Budget strategy, proposed the lowering of the VAT rate and the reduction of PRSI payment for employers as a means of stimulating employment. We also put forward a radical job creation plan, Rebuilding Ireland, which would see 100,000 jobs created over the next four years, which the Government chose to ignore. "It is imperative now that every effort is made to facilitate the workers at Xilinx, who will be joining the dole queue, to be re-trained and up-skilled where required and that an acceptable redundancy package is put in place. Furthermore the Government must immediately set about addressing the issues which are causing us to shed jobs at such a phenomenal rate so that we can ensure that remaining jobs, at the Citywest firm and elsewhere, remain there." Ends | 
