THE Irish government has refused, on grounds of commercial sensitivity, to release any records relating to its consideration of a request from Waterford Wedgwood for loan guarantees of up to EUR 39 mi…
THE Irish government has refused, on grounds of commercial sensitivity, to release any records relating to its consideration of a request from Waterford Wedgwood for loan guarantees of up to EUR 39 million. The Department of Finance and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment refused requests under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act from The Irish Times for records compiled during Ministers“ assessment of the case. After months of deliberation, the Cabinet rejected the company“s application for State support in the week ending 24 May 2008. The Department of Enterprise file on the case contains about 200 pages of correspondence and other records, according to a schedule released to the newspaper. The schedule indicates that executives from Waterford first met the department on 19 December 2007 and that there was a high level of engagement between both sides. Among dozens of other records, the file indicates that Waterford wrote on six occasions to the then minister for enterprise, Michel Martin, or to the secretary-general of his department. There were six meetings with the firm, of which one, in February 2008, was attended by the then minister for finance, Brian Cowen. There were also three phone calls. Waterford Wedgwood, whose chairman, Sir Anthony O“Reilly, and his brother-in-law, Peter John Goulandris, have put in EUR 300 million to support the company in recent years, is still examining alternative means of resolving an impending financial crisis in the business. Financial results to be released in June 2008 are likely to show that Waterford had an operating loss of some EUR 100 million in its last fiscal year, according to stockbrokers. Such an outcome is likely to increase pressure on the company to move some of its crystal production from its manufacturing plant in Kilbarry, County Waterford to eastern Europe or further afield.