Irish Cement in restructuring efforts, to cut 55 jobs

CRH subsidiary Irish Cement has announced 55 redundancies at its plant in Limerick as part of restructuring measures due to a considerable downturn in the domestic construction sector.

The company said that the restructuring follows five years of decline in Irish construction activity which is now 80 per cent less than 2007 peak levels.

“Unprecedented deterioration in market conditions, combined with a sustained decline in the demand for cement products, has led to the need for a significant restructuring plan to be put in place at the Limerick facility,” the company said in a statement.

It is understood that the restructuring plan will be negotiated at talks with workers and unions to take place over the coming days.

Earlier this year, staff working at the Irish Cement plants in Castlemungret and in Platin, Co Meath, took strike action in a row with the company over payments that were worth somewhere between €5,500 and €9,500 to each worker. The staff and their trade union, Siptu, said that a Labour Court ruling obliged the company to pay them the money.