Small firms issue job cuts warning

JOB losses will continue to run at almost 1,000 a week unless the Government intervenes to cut those business costs it controls directly, the Small Firms Association believes.

Director of the association Avine McNally said that in 2010 in excess of 60,000 redundancies were notified to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment — an average of 1,075 a week.

She said one of the greatest concerns about the high level of redundancies is that companies’ ability to create new jobs has been damaged by loss of competitiveness. “There is a clear need for the Government to now prioritise the restoration of cost competitiveness to the small business sector, which is the only way to stop further job losses,” Ms McNally argues.