More than 90 jobs are to be axed at the Sara Lee factory in Killarney. The garment manufacturers have announced the plant will close between February and March this year.
Sara Lee took over an existing facility on the site in Killarney in November 1999 but in 2002 made 104 employees redundant.
This latest cutback is being blamed on over-production, a spokesman for Sara Lee (Ireland) Ltd told ireland.com.
"The market for production of seamless knitted product will not require this amount of capacity in the foreseeable future", he said.
Production is to be consolidated into the company's plant in Spain, where most of the goods are sold. "Costs are lower in Spain and it is more feasible to consolidate there than in Ireland," he added.
Consultation with trade unions and workforce representatives is unde rway to negotiate redundancy terms and Sara Lee plan to provide a support programme to help employees find alternative work.
