Medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific has advised staff at its Galway plant that it plans to reduce the workforce by 175.
The US firm, the largest mulitnational operating in the west, employs 3,000 workers at its Galway base, and a further 2,000 at its plants in Cork and Clonmel.
A spokeswoman said the job losses were in response to "current market production needs".
She said the company would be consulting with staff over the next few weeks, and the redundancies would be based on length of service.
In a brief statement yesterday, Boston Scientific said it remained "strongly committed" to its operations in Ireland, which it said, "are recognised as making a significant contribution to the organisation's global operations network".
The Galway plant, which was established in 1994, is the largest manufacturing site within the corporation, with more than 3,000 staff employed in the RD and manufacture of cardiology and peripheral vascular products such as stents and catheters.
Last year, the company announced plans to invest a further €91 million in the Galway plant, which led to the creation of a 45 jobs.
The move followed the company's acquisition of Galway-based firm Labcoat which develops technology to allow coronary stents be coated with drugs.
The company, however, also closed smaller plants in Letterkenny and Tullamore as part of reorganisation of its Irish operation.
Boston Scientific last week announced it had agreed to pay a hefty $1.73 billion to the end of three long-running patent disputes for heart stents with medical rival Johnson & Johnson.