Intel has this evening announced it is to implement 294 compulsory redundancies at its Leixlip, Co Kildare, plant.
In its statement, the computer-chip manufacturer said the cuts in its Ireland Fab Operations (IFO) facility and related service groups were due to a decline in demand for its products produced at the facility.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said today's decision by the company should not be taken as a signal of their future intentions in the country, however. "They are jobs in relation to a line of work that is somewhat out of date," Mr Lenihan told reporters in Donegal.
Intel said the redundancies were "regrettable" and that employees and the company would be engaged in a "process of consultation" over the next few weeks to determine which employees will be affected.
"The affected employees will be given the same severance package that was on offer in the voluntary program earlier this year. At this difficult time, Intel management will be working closely with all affected employees to provide support and assistance," the statement said.
Stating it had invested more than €6 billion in the Leixlip campus over 20 years, the company said it remains "strongly committed" to its Irish operations in Ireland.
"The staff at the Intel Ireland campus continue to excel and the Intel Ireland management team takes proactive steps on an ongoing basis to allow us to offer positive options to Intel Corporation for inward investment opportunities," the company statement said.
Staff at the computer-chip manufacturer in Leixlip were recently told demand for new products was not materialising as quickly as expected. The briefings had concerns among staff that this may lead to a possible cut in activity and staff numbers.
Intel employs nearly 5,000 staff directly and through third parties. The firm’s Irish factories were constructed during the late 1980s and make older and lower-end products.
Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar said the job losses were "further proof" of the State's failing competitiveness.
“This is devastating news for Intel employees, their families and for business in the region. . . . It also completely undermines Minister Ryan’s announcement today that 300 jobs are to be created in the telecoms area of what he termed the ‘smart economy’," said the party's spokesman for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
"We are now overly dependent on the traded sector and unless we become an attractive place in which to invest again any economic recovery strategy is doomed to fail," Mr Varadkar said.
He called on Tánaiste Mary Coughlan to intervene to try and defer the job cuts by lobbying through the EU to restore the previously allowed grant funding that was due to be invested in Intel.
Labour's Emmet Stagg said the news was "disappointing" and would have "significant economic consequences" for the area.
"Given the fact that more than 200 jobs have gone as a result of voluntary redundancy programme earlier this year, it will mean that more than 500 well paid jobs will have been lost at the plant," the Kildare North TD said.
"We simply cannot continue to afford the loss of jobs at this rate. Unfortunately the Government appears to have totally thrown in the towel on job protection and appears content to allow the Live Register to head for half a million."
Earlier this year, the company announced it was closing six factories in the United States, China, Malaysia and the Philippines with a total loss of 5,000 to 6,000 jobs.
