INOU concerned about recent redundancies

The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) has expressed concern about a spate of job losses in the first few weeks of the year.

The organisation said almost 2,000 redundancies had been announced since the start of the month, with the manufacturing sector experiencing most of the losses.

Speaking in China this morning, Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin said he was hopeful new employment could be found for the workers who have lost their jobs.

However, INOU spokesman Eric Conroy said action was needed instead of words.

"We've been hearing about things happening in relation to task forces," he said. "But we're looking for proactive task forces and we see little sign of action on that."