1,200 jobs go as new figures show unemployment rising

Unemployment figures to be published this morning are expected to show a rise of about 900 in the number of people signing on the live register in October.

The seasonally- adjusted figures from the Central Statistics Office will not reflect the loss of almost 1,200 jobs yesterday, losses which are likely to put the current historically low unemployment rate of 3.7 per cent under further pressure.

In one of the worst days of job losses since the current spate began, all 700 workers at the Tara Mines zinc plant in Co Meath were issued with notice of lay-off from November 17th.

A further 320 jobs were lost at the AFL car components firm in Dundalk, Co Louth, and 100 temporary workers at the Braun electrical appliances plant in Carlow were put on notice.

Meanwhile, the in-store bank Tusa said it would close at the end of the year with the loss of 75 jobs, just two years after it was established. The company is co-owned by Irish Life & Permanent and the Superquinn supermarket group, where it operated in 14 grocery outlets throughout the State.

Figures compiled by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment show that more than 14,000 workers were notified of redundancy in the nine months to October. The statistics suggest job losses in the slowdown this year will be the highest recorded since 1993, before the economic boom began in earnest.

In addition, IDA Ireland warned last night that further job losses in the multinational sector were inevitable.

The jobs agency said it was not forecasting recovery in the key information technology sector, where thousands of jobs have already been lost, until next summer.

A spokesman said 10 per cent of workers at IDA Ireland client firms had already lost their jobs this year. The agency would be satisfied if it could maintain current employment levels.

The losses at AFL will have a severe impact on the local economy in Co Louth, where almost 1,800 jobs have been lost since January.

The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Louth TD Mr Dermot Ahern, said he learned of the news with great regret.

"The north-east and Louth in particular have had bad rebuffs in the recent past and I can guarantee that all efforts will be made to try to redress the situation," he said.

While a statement from managers at the Tara operation simply said the mine was being placed on a care and maintenance programme until the price of zinc improved to a level where the mine was viable, a separate statement from its parent, the Finnish group Outokumpu, said it planned to abandon base metal mining altogether.

The Helsinki-based group is trying to sell the mine, which has been losing €3 million a month.

Management and unions at the plant, Europe's largest zinc mine, will meet next Tuesday morning to explore the possibility of an alternative to redundancies.

The former Taoiseach and Fine Gael TD for Meath, Mr John Bruton, called for a task force to be set up to help the Tara mine workers.

"Nearly 700 families will be directly affected, suffering a massive loss of income. Jobs in those supplying services to the mine will also be lost," he said.

Braun employs about 900 at its Carlow plant, which is the town's largest employer, manufacturing hair-dryers and electrical curlers. The 100 temporary staff will be laid off as their contracts run out.

A company source said the lay-offs were part of the "normal business cycle" and were not related to the economic downturn.

Tusa's chief executive, Mr Brian Mahony, said the decision to close was taken after the company concluded that it could not secure enough customers to stay in business.