A temporary employment subsidy scheme to preserve jobs at risk in vulnerable industries has been proposed by the Government at talks on a national economic recovery plan.
It is understood the Government is prepared to make available up to €250m, which could provide subvention for up to 30,000 workers.
Under the scheme, which would be targetted at manufacturing and internationally traded services, workers could get a subvention of up to €200 a week for a period of up to 15 months or until the end of 2010.
Eligible companies would have to show that they were not in difficulty before last July, and had the potential to return to viability.
The scheme would be supervised by Enterprise Ireland and County Enterprise boards, as well as a National Monitoring Comnmittee including representatives of the social partners and government departments.
The talks are being chaired by the Taoiseach, accompanied by the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance.
Other topics under consideration are pensions, mortgage repossessions, competitiveness, and public sector reform.
