LOCAL Westminster MP, Michelle Gildernew is due to meet with a British government minister today to present the case against plans by the Inland Revenue to take 24 jobs out of Enniskillen.
A total of 240 jobs are eligible for redundancy as part of a centralisation plan by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
David Gauke, who is the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, will also be facing up to her fellow Westminster MPs, Conor Murphy and Mark Durkan and Margaret Ritchie, MLA.
A total of 24 Inland Revenue jobs could disappear in Enniskillen as part of a planned HMRC reorganisation.
It has already announced a voluntary redundancy scheme affecting staff in four of its offices in the North, including Enniskillen.
A spokesman for HMRC said the increased number of online customers had reduced the need for ‘physical’ sites.
“This change has seen the nature of our work shift away from the mass processing work of the past to the more specialist, but less labour-intensive, roles required in effective policing of the tax system.
“As a result, some areas of our work do not require as many staff,” he said.
Barney Lawn, the local spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said staff were left ‘dismayed’ at the news.
He told the Herald: “The only explanation given to staff was centralisation of work, and that the office did not fit with the department’s medium or long term plans.
“But, the department’s rationale is totally skewed. We are actually under-staffed, not the other way round, and the argument is sustained by the over-time still available for staff.”
Asked whether he thought the jobs could be saved, Mr Lawn was upbeat.
“We fought this in 2006 and were successful, and we hope we can repeat that success.
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