30,000 jobs will be lost this year

REDUNDANCIES will hit 30,000 this year, wiping out the benefits arising from the creation of new jobs, according to small business lobby group the Small Firms Association (SFA).

Director Pat Delaney said pay in Ireland was over 30% higher than the EU average and the rate of wage growth was twice as high as our main competitors at 5%.

Mr Delaney said the projected redundancy level "would be a very unwelcome outcome and underpins the need for deeper and faster pay moderation, particularly among manufacturing companies." Redundancy levels were now at a 22-year high and running at a level of 500 people each week so far in 2004, according to the SFA. Almost 9,000 people have been made redundant this year, which is 8% higher than the same period last year.

"What is particularly disappointing about the current high levels of redundancies is that our ability to create new jobs has improved for the first time in five years," said Mr Delaney. "Creating new jobs at one level and losing them at the other end will reduce the economic growth impact of employment creation. This is a critical battle that Ireland must win," he said.

Mr Delaney blamed unrealistic wage expectations, higher employer costs such as insurance, energy and waste charges, and a higher minimum wage for putting pressure on the manufacturing sector here.

The manufacturing sector has seen approximately one third of this year's 9,000 job losses.

The threat to competitiveness was also a major theme at the annual conference of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA), which took place in Cork over the weekend. Forfás chairman Martin Cronin told the 200 delegates that Ireland should build on its areas of greatest strength to fight off competition from low-cost countries.

"To remain successful in this competitive environment, businesses in Ireland must aim to be among the leaders in their served markets."

CPA president Daragh Solan said Ireland was still an attractive place to do business, thanks to its tax and regulatory regimes as well as its education system.