6,350 redundancies were notified to the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment in July, an increase of almost 65% compared with the same month last year. The percentage rise compares with increases of more than 200% in some of the earlier months of the year.
For the first seven months of the year, lay-offs are up 142%, from 20,255 to 49,009. This is almost 10,000 more redundancies than in the whole of 2008.
Small business group ISME described the figures as 'dismal', and called on the Government to set up a National Employment Task Force to stop the haemorrhaging of jobs.
Director of the Small Firms Association, Patricia Callan, said urged the Government to take 'decisive action' in stemming the jobs crisis. She said the Government should 'stop peddling about with restrictive pilot schemes'.
