SOME 11 staff are to be let go by Chartered Accountants Ireland as part of a €1 million cost-cutting measure.

The job losses come as US-owned pharmaceutical giant Merck Sharp Dohme confirmed yesterday it is seeking 90 redundancies from its 455-strong workforce at its plant at Brinny near Innishannon in west Cork.

Staff at Chartered Accountants Ireland were briefed on the measures yesterday, which will see 11 of the accountancy body’s 135-strong workforce depart the organisation by the end of the year.

Five new positions, which will focus on member engagement and developing the organisation’s profile, will be created.

Chartered Accountants Ireland, the main professional body for chartered accountants in Ireland, has seen its income drop 18 per cent, or €5.7 million, since 2008 to just under €26 million.

The drop-off is mainly down to a reduction in membership fees and a decline in the number of students training as chartered accountants.

About 21,000 chartered accountants are members of the association, of which about two-thirds are employed by businesses, while the remainder work in practice. The figure also includes about 3,500 overseas members.

While the number of registered members has remained relatively steady since the onset of the recession, Chartered Accountants Ireland has reduced its subscription fees. The number of students taking chartered accountant courses has also declined.

Earlier yesterday, workers at Merck Sharp Dohme were briefed by management at Brinny at 2pm on the outcome of a review assessing production volumes at the plant, which manufactures active ingredients for supply to the company’s tablet manufacturing plants.

It is understood the review confirmed the company has sufficient stock of the active ingredients, which are manufactured at Brinny, to meet current and near-future requirements, so production while continuing, will be scaled back.

There was better news in Dublin, where generic drugs company Aspen is to expand its Dublin operation with the creation of 44 jobs. Aspen will set up a regulatory, quality assurance and supply projects centre of excellence in Citywest. The company began operating in Ireland in 2010, and it has since set up its European marketing and supply chain headquarters here. The new jobs will bring the company’s total workforce in Ireland to 58.