Job numbers at Irish Biscuits' plant in Tallaght in Dublin, which currently employs 500 people, are to be cut by 100 as part of a broader restructuring programme by its French parent company Danone.
Irish Biscuits, which manufactures Jacob's biscuits, says talks will take place with unions at the plant to agree a process for the reductions, which it aims to achieve by the end of 2002. No compulsory lay-offs are planned.
Managing director Neil Sanderson said increased competition, falling sales and over-capacity meant that the Tallaght plant was not competitive.
Danone had earlier said it was aiming to reduce industrial costs by 16% and to cut its biscuit lines by 28%, at the cost of 1,780 jobs out of a total of 15,000 spread across 15 European countries. Six of its factories are to shut completely.
The group, which specialises in dairy products, bottled waters and biscuits, is aiming to be the market leader in every country in which it operates.
Its current biscuit operation comprise 36 factories in Europe. Danone said its plan aimed to develop large capacity factories with production of more than 50,000 tonnes, plus a network of smaller, specialised plants that would hone their efficiency.
Danone said six sites in five countries did not have the capacity to be developed and would be closed, while five other sites would be reorganised with limited job losses. The restructuring would be spread over two to three years to help cushion the impact on employees and communities, the company said.
Danone's biggest operations are in France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Ireland and the UK.
