“The job cuts at Caterpillar are profoundly disappointing. Not only for the employees but also because of the problems it highlights in the Executive,” said Mr Dickson.
“The job losses show the Executive has not been sufficiently focused on manufacturing in Northern Ireland and needs to better support the industry. It also needs to work towards attracting more high quality manufacturing and jobs to Northern Ireland.
“In coming days, I am scheduled to speak to Caterpillar’s Operations Director and will raise a number of the key issues surrounding the job losses with him in order to establish what measures are being taken to help those affected workers and prevent any further redundancies.”