The Apple Computer Corporation which has announced the loss of 450 jobs in Cork yesterday refused to guarantee the future of the remaining 500 posts there, saying that no other company would give such an undertaking.

After days of speculation, workers were finally told of the company's plans on Monday. However, the latest utterance from the company will do nothing to foster confidence among the 500 employees who will remain at the Hollyhill facility to produce the last Apple line left in Cork - the G3 desktop computer.

Mr Bernard Cronin, the director of human resources at the plant, said yesterday Apple had never guaranteed jobs and added: "Very few companies could do it."

The Apple Corporation, he added, was now in a more stable trading position and, as it moved forward, the best it could do was to look with confidence to the future.

Similar sentiments were expressed last summer by Mr Tim Cooke, a senior vice-president worldwide for Apple, who gave strong indications to the workforce that if Apple's new iMac computer was successful, not only the Cork plant producing it but the corporation itself, which then had huge annual losses, would be saved.

In the event, the iMac has helped turn around Apple's fortunes but the company has opted to outsource production in order to cut costs.

The senior SIPTU negotiator dealing with the company, Mr Harry Carroll, spent most of yesterday attempting to work out details of the redundancy package. There are no details yet available of what the final offers will be. It is expected that talks involving the union and the company could go on for the remainder of the week.

The Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment admitted in the Dil yesterday that "frankly, we will not see the previous big level of jobs again" in the Apple plant in Cork. But Mr Tom Kitt said the Government would do everything possible to expand the firm's employment potential.

His comments came amid widespread protest from the Opposition about the loss of 390 temporary and 60 permanent jobs from Apple's Cork plant.