A Cork company which makes pharmaceutical products has announced a combination of temporary lay-offs and reduced hours for 61 of its 105 staff.
Production at the Corden PharmaChem site at Little Island has been suspended since an explosion at the plant last month in which a worker was killed.
Corden says its internal investigation into the incident, which has been assisted by outside experts, is nearing completion. An investigation by the Heath & Safety Authority is continuing.
The company says it is trying to resume operations at the site by July. Production is then planned to start back on a phased basis.
Corden managing director Paudie Burke said the decision was regrettable but necessary. 'We have stressed to our employees that we believe this is a temporary problem and we are hopeful that the site will get back to production activities within a relatively short space of time,' he said.
