Ireland North & West MEP Marian Harkin today (19 December) welcomed the release of €2.6 million in European Globalisation Fund aid to help the 432 former workers of Talk Talk in Waterford.

Speaking from the European Parliament, Harkin warmly welcomed the announcement stating, "The EGF is a valuable instrument to support workers who have been laid off as a result of globalisation and the economic crisis and this €2.6 million which has been earmarked to retrain and upskill the former Talk Talk workers is another example of this".

Harkin said, "To date the EGF has provided Ireland with €60.65 million to u skill nearly 10,000 workers, provideing support for Dell in Limerick, Waterford Crystal, SR Technics in Dublin and a specific fund for redundant Irish construction workers".

She added, "This fund has been vital in combating the problem of unemployment in the regions of Ireland hardest hit by the financial crisis, areas like Waterford where Talk Talk and Waterford glass have closed in the last 3 years".

The Independent MEP, who will lead the negotiations for the European Parliament on the future of the Fund, concluded by saying "The EGF, which was set up by the Commission in 2006 to combat globalisation, must be preserved and we must put pressure on Member State Governments to ensure that the EGF continues to be available to countries like Ireland into the next programming period 2014-2020".