FORMER AVIATION WORKERS in Dublin are set to get a boost this Christmas with the EU approving the delivery of almost €500,000 in funding to help them.
€442,293 has been offered to help over 200 redundant workers and unemployed persons source employment and learn new skills.
The main group to be assisted are 108 former workers of aviation maintenance company PWA International, who lost their jobs when the company closed down its aircraft engine casing plant in Rathcoole, Dublin in 2013.
The funding was approved by the European Parliament today and is part of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), which supports workers made redundant from big changes in global trade patterns.
Ireland had submitted an application for funding in June.
Ailing industry
Ireland has an ailing aircraft maintenance industry, with over 1,500 jobs lost since 2009. This is as a result of factories and companies moving overseas to Asia, where the long-term future of the industry is expected to be.
The money offered is to be used to support workers who have been made redundant, and will go towards guidance and career planning, internships, work placements and retraining.
The entire amount being offered to the workers will be around €740,000, with the EGF offering 60% of that. The programme is expected to run until June, 2017.
The EGF has a €150 million limit each year that it can deliver.
Up until now, Ireland had made nine successful applications to the fund since 2009, assisting over 9,700 workers at a total cost to the fund of around €60 million.
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