Fears over workers' cash package

The company is owned by Irish Fertiliser Industries

Concerns have been voiced over the financial future of more than 200 workers who are being made redundant in Belfast.

Staff at Richardsons fertiliser factory were told they would lose their jobs in an announcement earlier this month.

Former Stormont economy minister Sir Reg Empey said he fears they could end up worse off than their colleagues in the Irish Republic, who will be laid off at the same time.

He said the workers could lose out when it comes to working out a redundancy package.

Sir Reg Empey: Workers could end up worse off

"There is a black hole in the Northern Ireland side of this company pension fund of £15m," he said.

"The fund in the republic is fully funded and all of the workforce in the south will get 100% of their pension entitlement. Belfast workers might only get up to 40%."

However, union officials have said they are confident workers in Belfast would be treated the same, although there are significant problems to be sorted out.

"We are not in a situation were we believe our workers are going to be disadvantaged," said Maurice Cunningham of the TGW Union.

"What we have been trying to do in the last couple of days is to get our social partners, the political parties within the north of Ireland, to use their political might to bring pressure on the Irish Government, and also on ICI."

The unions will continue their talks with political parties over the coming days.

Richardsons, a family run business, was taken over in the late 1980s by Irish Fertiliser Industries. Its major shareholders are the Irish Government and the British multinational ICI.

It will lay off all its 206 employees at its plant in Belfast's docklands area.

A further 420 jobs are to go at the company's plants in Cork and Arklow in the Republic of Ireland.

The company said it had been operating in a difficult market condition recently.

The company is already preparing to wind down its operations in Belfast, even though it says it plans to continue trading for the next few weeks.

The company was hit badly by the foot-and-mouth outbreak last year, and by the rising cost of gas on the world market.