THE LABOUR Party has called on the new Minister for Enterprise, Mary Coughlan, to cut short her "honeymoon period" to save jobs at the Hormann Electronics plant in Cork.
Staff at the company, which has been based in the Mahon technology park in Cork since 1977, are expected to be told today of at least 30 redundancies, with another 120 job losses possible in the coming months.
About 250 people are employed at the electronics contract manufacturing firm.
Labour Cork South Central TD Ciaran Lynch said yesterday the job losses would come as a major disappointment to the Mahon community.
"My thoughts today are with those families who are to suffer job losses.
"They now face a time of great uncertainty, when mortgages and household bills will still have to be met."
He said Ms Coughlan must cut short her honeymoon period and get involved directly to see what could be done to secure the sustainability of the plant.
"It is absolutely crucial that Hormann continues to operate in the area."
Mr Lynch said people were becoming seriously concerned about the decline in the economy, particularly as the cost of living continued to race ahead.
It was time, he said, for targeted measures to be taken to address the general downturn in the economy.
"These measures should include a major programme of reskilling for people who are losing jobs, and a shift in the tax code to reward high-tech, high-risk ventures rather than property-based investment.
"These are among the proposals that we will be making next week when we raise the economy in our private members' time in the Dáil," the Cork TD added.
Hormann Electronics supplies a range of manufacturing services, from printed circuit board assembly to a full design service.
Founded in 1977 as Hormann Security Systems, the electronics manufacturer has weathered a series of storms in its 31-year history.
Acquired by Racal Chubb in 1987, two years later it went through its first management buyout, beginning the shift towards getting into electronic contract manufacturing and product assembly.
Ten years later the company was again bought out, this time by APW.
The company has yet to make any official comment on any possible job cuts.