Increase of 9.2% in job losses

IRELAND’S continuing loss of competitiveness has been blamed for the 20-year high in redundancies last year.

More than 27,700 job losses were notified to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, a 9.2% increase on the previous year and the highest level recorded since the 31,000 seen in 1984.

The manufacturing sector suffered over 11,000 redundancies during the year, while 4,000 jobs were lost in the banking and financial services sector. Almost half of the jobs lost were located in the Dublin area, while Cork and Kerry accounted for more than 3,700 redundancies, or almost 14% of the total.