The Government Chief Whip and Minister of State, Mr Jim Higgins, has had further talks with the IDA and the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, about the future of three jeans manufacturing plants in the west.
The owners of the Farah plants in Galway, Kiltimagh and Ballyhaunis announced before Christmas that 100 jobs must go. Mr Higgins said yesterday he was "cautiously optimistic that the results of the various options being looked at by the IDA and Farah will mean that the eventual outcome will be more positive than originally envisaged."
Many of the workers live in Mr Higgins's constituency, Mayo East.