€14 million in funding to help redundant workers in the mid west should start to flow following a vote by the European Parliament on Tuesday next.

According to the sole Irish member of the Parliament’s Globalisation Fund Working Group, and a member of the Employment Committee, Marian Harkin MEP stressed that the funds provided by the EU should not be subjected to dilution by excessive administration costs or inadequate training courses.

She said:- This €14 million provision for the workers directly, and indirectly, made redundant as a result of the Dell decision to move manufacturing capacity to Poland can be used to access training, further education or assistance for former workers to set up their own business.

“The fund is an expression of EU solidarity with those who have lost their jobs because of the effects of globalisation. The crucial aspect of this support is that it is targeted to individual workers, and needs, and must not be diluted or squandered in irrelevant or over administered courses”, Marian Harkin MEP concluded.