Negotiations were continuing yesterday between local management at AST in Limerick and its Korean parent, Samsung. The company, which is to lay off 148 people in mid-January, was due to issue a statement on the future prospects of the Irish operations yesterday, but later said it was unable to do so. The latest round of discussions are understood to be mainly focused on the redundancy terms that will be offered to workers affected by the restructuring of its world-wide operations.

Meanwhile, IDA Ireland has scheduled a series of meetings with Samsung which will continue into late January, with the longterm prospects for the company expected to remain unclear until then.

IDA Ireland is seeking to discuss how it can best support AST in its Irish operations. Among the options that will be considered will be a move to a smaller manufacturing site and possibly some fundamental changes in its day-today operations.

Most of the 148 workers are expected to find similar employment in the nearby Dell and Cabletron companies, which have both indicated they will be recruiting staff in the new year.

A number of new projects are also expected to be announced for the Limerick region in the next six weeks.

The job losses are part of a world-wide restructuring of the Samsung group. Earlier this month, it warned of the need to reduce its entire workforce by 1,100.

Redundancies at the Limerick plant will begin in mid-January. AST has been in Limerick since 1994 and, at its peak, employed 700 people. Earlier this year, it let 90 people go and, following the latest redundancies, its workforce will fall to around 300.