SIPTU has called on the Government to move quickly to establish a taskforce to produce strategies to protect production and thousands of jobs in the medical devices manufacturing sector which is to be subject to tariffs announced by the US Administration.
SIPTU Manufacturing Divisional Organiser, Neill McGowan, said: “The medical devices manufacturing sector is a significant employer throughout Ireland but in particular many of its major facilities are located along the Atlantic coast where they are crucial to the local economy.
“This sector relies on globalised supply chains and produces products which are nearly exclusively for the international market. While much attention has been paid to the pharma manufacturing sector and the impact of possible future tariffs on it, this threat is now a reality for the over 7,000 of our members producing medical devices”.
“Among the options which SIPTU believes should be considered are wage subsidy programmes similar to those introduced during the Covid pandemic for companies that experience a considerable fall in turnover due to a reliance on the US market.”
He added: “In the full likelihood that the current economic crisis brought about by the sharp change in US economic policy will continue for some time, a scheme based upon that operated in Germany of subsidies for shortened working weeks should be considered. All these measures will aim to protect production, jobs and local economies while we deal with an erratic US administration.”
