Tánaiste Mary Coughlan has confirmed that there have been a number of expressions of interest from parties interested in taking over the SRT aircraft maintenance operation at Dublin airport.
Last week, SRT announced that it was closing the Dublin facility within the next month with the loss of 1,135 jobs. The Tánaiste said the parties involved were interested in buying all or part of the business as a going concern. This raises the possibility that at least some of the jobs could be saved.
Ms Coughlan said the aim was to retain the maximum number of jobs at SRT. She said the state agencies would be following up on the expressions of interest. The Tánaiste was meeting a union delegation from SRT this afternoon.
After the meeting, Willie Quigley of Unite said that Ms Coughlan was already working with the IDA on avenues to secure the future of SRT. He said the unions were confident that the Government would assist to create opportunities and that all avenues would be explored before the gates shut. The unions are due to meet SRT management tomorrow.
Mr Quigley said he expected that management would want to discuss redundancy terms. But he said the unions were more concerned with having an opportunity to explore possibilities to save as many jobs as possible at the the airport..
