Siptu calls on Central Bank to reconsider closure of print works

Union representatives have called on the Central Bank of Ireland to reconsider a decision that would end the printing of banknotes in the Republic of Ireland.

Siptu said the recommendation to wind down the print works facility in Sandyford, Co Dublin, was "strategically flawed".

"This facility is a national strategic asset and for a country like Ireland to lose the capacity to print our own money into the future could have serious consequences," Siptu's services divisional organiser Karan O Loughlin said.

The decision came following the publication of the ’Print Works Strategic Review’.

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The union warned against the closure, pointing to the uncertainty caused by Brexit and the anti-EU sentiment stoked by the rise of right wing politics in some member states.

“While it is clear that Ireland remains committed to the euro as a currency, the same cannot be said for all of the members states currently engaged in monetary union,” Ms O’Loughlin said. “Should the unthinkable happen and the euro currency was to cease, the skills and technical knowledge required for Ireland to print its own currency will be essential. Unfortunately, once the Sandyford print works facility is lost these skills will be difficult to recover.”

Management exercise

Denis Hynes, SIPTU's sector organiser for the arts, culture and media sectors, said the PWSR was "purely a management exercise", saying staff were not involved in drafting the terms of reference and appointments to the body were made by management.

“When the staff were invited to participate they were excluded from the process after four meetings and the process continued without them,” he said. “In fact, neither the staff nor union representatives have ever had sight of the actual review. This is unacceptable.”

Some 45 staff at the facility would be affected by the decision. Compulsary redundancies are not being sought.