Tánaiste Michael McDowell told the Dáil he believed there would be buyers for the two Pfizer pharmaceutical plants.
As Cork TDs and other Opposition deputies raised the issue and pressed for a debate, Mr McDowell said "the IDA has a tremendous record and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, has a great record in Cork for delivering jobs".
Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton said the Pfizer announcement highlighted "a trend in job losses in our traded sectors". Describing Pfizer as one of the flagship companies in Ireland's pharmaceutical sector, he said it had never seen job losses before. It was now part of a trend and there had been "similar job losses in Motorola, Vodafone and Xerox".
Mr McDowell said: "The IDA has such a good record with regard to pharmaceutical capacity, which is always sought after, that I believe there will be alternative purchasers for those plants."
He said that during a recent trip to the US he had been at Amgen's headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California. That company had a $1.1 billion investment in Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, and he would not want to talk down the Cork economy.
Dan Boyle (Green Party, Cork South Central) said the issue was a matter of major concern to the Cork area. Kathleen Lynch (Labour, Cork North Central) also expressed concern.
Mr McDowell said that 65 jobs were to go and that the two plants, at Little Island and Loughbeg, would be sold as going concerns.
Mr Boyle said that "if they are not sold, the jobs are gone".
Replying to Mr Boyle later, Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Michael Ahern said the company was shedding 10,000 of its employees worldwide.
"However, the company's plants in Cork and Dún Laoghaire remain pivotal to the company. Pfizer is heavily committed to Ireland, employing close to 2,300 people and accounting for a capital investment of well in excess of €1 billion."