IDA Ireland yesterday played down possible further job losses in the high-tech sector following the surprise announcement on Wednesday that Motorola in Dublin was to shed 750 jobs.
The number of high-tech jobs considered to be at risk by the IDA is no higher than for this period last year, said a spokesman yesterday. His comments came as Matsushita Media Manufacturing, which is a subsidiary of Kodak and Panasonic in Cork, said it was laying off 124 permanent and temporary employees at its Youghal plant. Matsushita, which manufactures CD-Roms, said the decision was influenced by factors outside its control.
There are currently 28,000 people employed directly in the tech sector in the Republic, of which only a few thousand are considered at risk.
The IDA has not carried out a full jobs audit of the sector since December 1997, when diskdrive manufacturer Seagate closed a factory in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, with the loss of 1,400 jobs.
The Motorola restructuring involves the single biggest number of redundancies in the sector since Seagate closed. Like the disk-drive maker, Motorola will be asked to repay some of the £24 million (€30.5 million) it received in grants from the IDA. Seagate eventually repaid £11 million.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said she would not establish a task force to help redundant Motorola staff find new jobs. She said there was a number of firms in the electronics sector engaged in the Dublin area and was "confident that those who wish to do so will be able to find alternative employment".
