The Dawnus Construction Company

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:25 pm on 20 March 2019.

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Photo of Mike Hedges Mike Hedges Labour 3:25, 20 March 2019

Dawnus was actually in my constituency, in Swansea vale. It was a medium-sized construction business, and if there's one thing that we need in Wales it's medium-sized private businesses. Employing 700 made it, in Swansea East terms at least, a large employer. And if you look at the list of companies in Wales, it was in the top 50 in the Western Mail list up until the last list. It's going to be a devastating blow to the economy of Swansea East, but I am aware of the support the Welsh Government has given and, as you know, I approached you over 12 months ago asking for that level of support, and I'm very pleased that it was provided, even if it eventually proved not to be enough. I think it really is important that we do try and protect medium-sized, homegrown Welsh companies, and you couldn't get more Welsh than Dawnus. 

I would like to associate myself with everything that Joyce Watson said about the workforce, and I won't repeat it. I've got two questions. You talked about giving support; will the same level of support as is currently being provided to Virgin Media, and which was provided to Tesco staff, be provided to the current Dawnus staff? I know it's not as simple as everybody being on one site, but wherever they are, they'll still need that support. And was Dawnus finally paid all the money it was owed for the work it did in Sierra Leone?