The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Mary Coughlan, has announced that 7,478 jobs are to receive direct support under the first round of the Employment Subsidy Scheme.
This week 453 employers are to be informed of their successful application under the scheme, which provides a subsidy of €9,100 over 15 months per qualifying employee in vulnerable but viable firms.
As a result of this scheme, companies have now committed, as part of their application, to retain 35,283 jobs.
A further number of applications are in the final stages of assessment, which will be completed in the near future.
Applicant enterprises qualifying under the scheme were those judged vulnerable in the current economic climate but viable in the medium to long-term, with such analysis being co-ordinated by Enterprise Ireland.
The scheme was introduced in the context of rising unemployment to assist in the retention of jobs and to help retain the economy's skills base.
The Tánaiste said each of the companies who will receive support under the scheme have committed to retaining an agreed level of employees until December 2010.
Ms Coughlan said she was surprised that applications under the initiative had been less than anticipated and she confirmed that she now intends to proceed with a second round with broader criteria.
