400 job losses blamed on falling demand

FALLING demand has been blamed for the announcement of up to 400 manufacturing and motoring job losses yesterday.

Cadbury Ireland said it is to make 200 of its 1,100 staff redundant as part of a cost reduction plan.

“Like many other export businesses Cadbury Ireland is operating in a difficult trading environment,” it said in a statement last night. “The generally high cost of manufacturing in Ireland has been further exposed by recent currency movements, and this loss of competitiveness has led to a decline in export demand.

“Despite these challenges, we remain committed to manufacturing in Ireland and today we are announcing a programme to invest a further €20 million in our Coolock site. However, it is clear that in the current environment only cost-effective, flexible and competitive manufacturing operations will survive. We need to reduce our costs consistent with the economic realities and, regrettably, this may see a reduction of up to 200 roles across our Coolock and Rathmore manufacturing sites. These proposals have been put forward in order to safeguard Cadbury operations in Ireland and to protect over 900 jobs for the future,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, up to 190 jobs are expected to be lost following the decision by Tom Hogan Motors, which has its headquarters in Galway, to go into voluntary liquidation. The job losses, include 70 at its headquarters in Ballybrit, 30 in its original base in Ennis, 20 in Clonmel and 15 in Shannon.

Shock staff learned of the closure yesterday morning as several months of poor trading took its toll on a business which had thrived in Galway for over a quarter of a century.

The company’s website was offline yesterday and customers who called to the Ballybrit premises were met by a “Closed until further notice” signs. Car finance companies had placed notices on windscreens stating they owned particular vehicles.

Tom Hogan Motors had developed into one of the top dealers in the country through its Toyota franchise. It was also a Lexus supplier and recently was awarded the BMW dealership in Galway.

However, the economic downturn took its toll this year and the Society of Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has warned further job losses are inevitable.

Toyota Ireland managing director David Shannon said that Toyota Ireland would ensure warranties and other customers’ needs would be catered for by other dealers.