No second extension to liberty redundancy deadline

There will not be a second extension to the deadline for redundancies at Liberty Insurance on the Dublin Road, The Celt understands.

The company sought 115 voluntary redundancies from their Cavan operation following a shock announcement on Thursday, June 25, that it was looking for 270 in all across Cavan, Blanchardstown (135) and Enniskillen (20), due to a “loss-making” performance and an “uncompetitive cost base”.
The company, which employs just under 1,000 in Ireland, had pencilled in Friday, July 10, as the deadline for staff who were interested in taking voluntary redundancy but that was extended to July 17, following a request from the employees to allow for time to consider the package, which was four weeks’ salary per year served on top of the statutory two weeks per year.
The process was to take up to five weeks after those taking voluntary redundancy were accepted and it is expected to be completed at some point in August with all redundancies to be enacted on dates before Christmas of next year.
The company employs around 1,000 in total but have said that the Enniskillen call centre will be outsourced, after the completion of the cuts.
In late 2012, Liberty asked for 75 redundancies in Cavan but ended up in early 2013 letting 110 go - 10 of those were compulsory.
Before the former Quinn Insurance business went into administration five years ago, staff in Ireland numbered 1,500 across sites in Cavan, Navan, Blanchardstown and Enniskillen. Once the current process is complete, remaining staff in Cavan and Dublin will number less than 500.
The CEO of Liberty Insurance Ireland, Tom McIlduff, has told the Celt that the company has “no plans” to close the Cavan office and is “committed” to the business here but could not guarantee the remaining jobs here for any period of time.
The move was criticised by local politicians and Cavan Chamber of Commerce says it will do all it can for the workers and for Liberty to remain in the county.
As recently as last week, Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin, speaking at a Hotel Kilmore meeting on a cross-border strategy should Britain exit the EU in 2017, organised by local TD Brendan Smith, said the cuts at Liberty were “very disappointing” and that the county should be included in a “economic corridor” plan to revitalise jobs in the Border region.
Liberty Insurance declined to comment to The Celt while the process is ongoing but at the time of the original redundancy announcement Mr McIlduff said: “The market is challenging and we have been loss-making with an uncompetitive cost-base.
“Withdrawing from the Great Britain market, focusing on Ireland and streamlining our operating model will enable us to strengthen our long-term competitive position in Ireland in order to service our customers and brokers better.”