The European Commission offered 14.8 million euros to help workers let go from Dell's Irish plant on Saturday, just weeks before the Irish vote on Lisbon's reform treaty. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso unveiled the aid in an official trip to the western city of Limerick, which is still reeling from the loss of about 2,000 job cuts at the world's No 1 chipmaker.
"I am very glad that the Commission can demonstrate concretely the union's solidarity with Limerick ... in this manner," Barroso said in a city that has become one of the biggest casualties of the "Celtic Tiger's" demise. Ireland has to ratify the Lisbon treaty, which is designed to give Brussels a stronger role in world affairs, in order for it to take effect across the 27-member bloc.
Irish voters, accounting for less than 1 percent of the union's near half a billion population, rejected the charter in a referendum last year and a second "No" would likely plunge the union into a crisis. The importance of Europe for the battered Irish economy is the central theme of the government's campaign to ratify the EU's reform treaty on October 2 and Barroso reinforced that argument.
"The European Central Bank has lent more than 120 billion euros to the Irish banking system, 15 percent of total ECB lending," Barroso told an audience of councillors and local representatives from Limerick. "Being in the euro area has provided a vital anchor of stability for Ireland at this difficult time."
Opinion polls suggest Ireland will approve the treaty, which is intended to speed up decision-making in the enlarged bloc, but a significant proportion of the electorate is undecided and officials are worried the government's deep unpopularity will generate a large protest vote.
After rejection last year, Dublin is hoping concessions from Brussels, including the right to retain an Irish commissioner, and the need for EU support in the recession, will help secure ratification this time around. Barroso warned in Limerick that Ireland could lose its right to nominate an EU commissioner if it rejects the Lisbon Treaty for a second time and a No vote would create uncertainty about Ireland's place in Europe, further damaging its economy.
The grant from the European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF) will help 2,400 redundant workers in the computer industry find new jobs, Barroso said. In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said the vote was too early to call.