E-security firm Entropy will shed 21 jobs and among those to go are two senior members of its management team.

Those losing their jobs are drawn from a team hired by the Dublin-based company last December to develop and roll-out a new solution called Managed Security Services on a European basis.

But the service relied on funding which has been delayed, a spokeswoman said. As a result, a decision was taken to defer the introduction until the market situation had improved, she said.

Despite the cutbacks, Entropy still planned to offer the service to its existing client base, the spokeswoman said. Clients include Scottish Provident, Paddy Power and the Central Statistics Office.

Among those being let go is the company's chief operating officer, Mr Fionan O'Driscoll, who joined Entropy last December. He was hired to set up and run the Managed Security Services operation, the spokeswoman said.

Entropy has also let go Mr Colman Morrissey, its customer services director, as a result of internal restructuring which saw the merger of its software engineering and network engineering operations.

Following yesterday's job losses, the company will continue to employ 74 people. The spokeswoman stressed its core business would not be affected by the cuts and was expected to continue to grow by 40 per cent this year. Last month, Entropy logged record sales of £3.3 million (€4.2 million) for November, December and January.

At the beginning of the year, it qualified as one of the 50 fastest growing technology firms in the Deloitte & Touche Ireland Technology Fast 50 Programme.

Entropy was set up in 1993.