MORE than 1,000 new teaching jobs will be created by September — with a further 1,000 expected next year.

The jobs are being given the green light because of a huge surge in the number of full-time students, which now tops one million for the first time in the history of the State. They are in addition to the hundreds of posts that have to be filled annually due to retirements.

They also come on top of the 500 teaching positions that are currently being filled as part of Fianna Fail’s deal with the Greens to keep them in government.

The massive jobs boost means hundreds of graduates will not have to emigrate or go on the dole. It is also likely to continue the rise in CAO applications and points for teaching as it becomes one of the more sought-after professions at a time of major economic uncertainty.

Of the 1,080 new posts coming on stream this September, 600 will be in primary and 330 in second-level. A further 150 have yet to be designated.

The Department of Education last night confirmed to the Irish Independent that the cost of the jobs would be in region of €40m a year in salaries alone. Further costs will be incurred in the provision of extra schools and classrooms.

The enrolment rise next year will be even greater and last night sources said a further 1,000 teachers — if not more — would be needed to cope with the huge increases.

The rapid growth is putting huge pressure on the public finances at the worst possible time as ministers struggle to find €3bn in savings.

There are fears that the money used to pay the extra teachers and provide additional classrooms will lead to drastic cuts in other areas of education, especially in the third-level sector.

The Department of Education spokesman said: “The resources will have to be provided to facilitate the increased demands in line with the commitment in the renewed programme not to increase pupil-teacher ratios in the lifetime of this Government.”

Official projections foresee continued growth in enrolments at all levels of the education system.

New figures from the department show that this year there were a record 1,011,300 full-time students in Irish schools, colleges and universities. This consisted of 505,600 in primary, 350,600 at second-level and 155,100 in third-level.

Primary enrolments are projected to continue rising until the turn of the decade, when they are expected to come in at just under 570,000 before starting to drop back.

At second-level, they are expected to top 410,000 in 15 years before beginning to fall back.

But third-level, which is the most expensive, will continue to grow, reaching more than a quarter of a million students in 15 years’ time.

Unless new methods of teaching, such as e-learning, are introduced, the cost for the additional third-level students has been estimated at €4bn.

The improved job prospects for newly qualified teachers in September and in the immediate future were welcomed last night by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO).

Protests

The union put this down to last September’s revised Programme for Government, which contained commitments to reverse many of the education cuts that had previously been announced.

More than 100,000 people took part in nationwide street protests against the cutbacks. The major focus of the protests was on the size of classes.

“Clear threats to further increase class sizes were averted,” said INTO general secretarySheila Nunan, adding: “The agreement will enable schools to cope with the growing school population in the coming years.”

Ms Nunan said the agreement had to be seen against the McCarthy ‘Bord Snip Nua’ Report, which had recommended class sizes of 29 or more. Had this happened, classes in Irish primary schools would have been the largest in Europe.

- John Walshe Education Editor

Irish Independent

A TOTAL of 310 workers are to be axed in Co Sligo and Co Corkafter another bleak day for jobs.

A Sligo-based call centre is to close in six months with the loss of 160 jobs while 150 jobs are to go in Cork at a wireless communications plant.

Work done at the Tiscali Contact Centre in Sligo will be merged with other locations, including Co Waterford, it was revealed last night.

In a statement issued by the TalkTalk group, which ownsTiscali and is the sponsor of ‘The X Factor’, the company said the decision to consolidate its operations was taken “as processes improve and fewer customers call us”.

“The dedicated team in Sligo has delivered excellent service to our customers and we are working with employee representatives over the next six months to fully consult and assist them at this difficult time,” a statement said.

Blow

This is the second jobs blow to the area in weeks. Earlier this month, GlaxoSmithKline announced it was to cease operations at its Sligo plant, Stiefel Laboratories, by the end of 2013 resulting in the loss of 250 jobs.

Some 150 jobs are to go at Option Wireless, which makes communications products, in Cork because of a cost-cutting plan that will see the transfer of business to Asia.

It is to retain 22 people at the plant in the Kilbarry Industrial Estate. The job losses are expected in January next with more at the end of March.

Kathleen Lynch, Labour TD for Cork north central, described the job losses at Option Wireless as “massive downsizing”.

“A few weeks ago, we discovered that a high-level government group on unemployment had not met since January. In the meantime, jobless figures have sky-rocketed in every city, town and village in the country.”

She said Labour has consistently argued that Tanaiste Mary Coughlan should respond to our unemployment problem by establishing an expert group to assist in addressing problems in companies before they reached crisis point.

- Anita Guidera and Brendan Farrelly

Irish Independent

Bookmaker Paddy Power has announced it will create up to 250 new jobs at its headquarters in Tallaght in Dublin over the next three-and-a-half years.

Paddy Power, which already employs 640 people in Dublin, is recruiting as part of its strategy of international expansion into the online sports betting market.

The company is to recruit 50 people with skills in technology and risk management by next summer, with the remainder generated over three subsequent years.

This morning, Paddy Power has said it is lending its bet pricing and risk expertise to the French state controlled horse racing betting system, called PMU, for a five-year period from next year.

PMU is Europe’s largest betting organisation with €9.3bn of sales in 2008 generated through 10,000 retail outlets.

This morning PMU announced it plans to become an online player for sports betting.

In that regard, this is an enormous opportunity for Paddy Power, making the company a significant exporter of services from its Tallaght base.

Paddy Power is already the largest online bookmaker in the UK and it has also grown strongly in Australia over the last year.

Chief executive Patrick Kennedy said Paddy Power was looking for more overseas opportunities.

Global online betting has an estimated current turnover of €50bn, but that is set to double in the coming years.

All of the 250 jobs to come on stream in Tallaght will be for people with graduate skills in areas like IT and e-commerce.

see more: http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1112/paddypower.html

DESPERATE jobseekers sent their CVs to Marks & Spenceryesterday — for work that will not be available until 2014.

Phones were hopping after the retailer said 450 workers would be recruited when it opened its biggest store in the country in five years.

The demand for work has not declined since thousands of applicants queued for temporary Christmas jobs at the British chain last month.

But there were clear signs that the tide is beginning to turn on the employment front as the retailer announced it would become an anchor tenant at the Pavilions Shopping Centre inSwords, Co Dublin.

Meanwhile, over 1,000 jobs — 250 of them abroad — will also be on offer at a major recruitment fair this week and another 33 positions will be created over three years at an insurance firm in Dingle, Co Kerry, in the Udaras na Gaeltachta business park.

Udaras chief executive Padraig O hAoilain said the venture was a good example of its development strategy, which targeted the services sector for employment generation investment in the Gaeltacht.

Technology

Jobseekers can apply for a range of jobs at the jobs fair, including 100 positions at discount supermarket Aldi, 50 at technology giant Siemens, 50 at car hire firm Hertz, 40 at IT firm PayPal and 30 at auction site eBay.

At the top end, Oracle is looking for a regional controller with up to 10 years’ commercial experience, while Citi is looking for managers with similar experience.

A total of 37 employers are exhibiting at the fair at the RDStomorrow, including Bank of America, IBM and Yahoo.

Despite the good news on the jobs front, however, the axe is hanging over 120 jobs at Halifax bank’s mortgage operations in Belfast, as part of a fresh wave of cuts announced by the Lloyds Banking Group.

- Anne-Marie Walsh and Anne Lucey

Irish Independent

TWO hundred jobs hang in the balance as one of Ireland’s largest pub and nightclub groups fights for its survival.

The threat to the 200 jobs in the south east came when the Tweedy Group based in Waterford city was granted examinership at the High Court in Dublin.

Its owner, Bob Tweedy, had sought the protection of the court while it tried to resolve its financial problems.

The Tweedy Group, which owns some of Waterford city’s leading pubs and clubs — including Muldoon’s, The Woodman Bar, Mason’s, Oscar’s and Ruby’s and the Oxygen nightclubs — has debts exceeding €10m.

However Mr Tweedy told the Irish Independent last night that he is hopeful the group will be able to find the financial backing to make his business viable and save 160 full-time and 40 part-time jobs.

“It’s a difficult time but we felt we weren’t left with any choice,” he said of going into examinership.

He cited the credit crunch as the main reason for his current financial woes. The company has spent the past three years seeking planning permission to re-fit some of the venues to add three large smoking areas.

However once permission was finally secured, the banks were unwilling to lend.

“The process now is to try to save jobs and restructure investment. We were able to satisfy the court that we have more than a reasonable chance of getting through it,” he said.

Meanwhile, two American multinationals made jobs announcements on the same day that the US officially exited recession.

Computer software giant Hewlett-Packard announced it will be expanding its research and development teams based at its software and IT plant at Ballybrit, Co Galway, and will be adding about 50 staff.

Tanaiste Mary Coughlan is also to announce today the creation of 40 jobs by the California-based online retail company Buy.com at a new facility in Galway.

Broadband

Also yesterday, Mullingar-based Satellite Broadband Ireland announced plans to create 30 new jobs on the back of a contract from mobile phone company 3 to roll out broadband services in rural Ireland under the National Broadband Scheme.

The company will provide broadband services to some of the 223,000 businesses and residences identified in the scheme.

Its co-founder Kevin Ryan said he is optimistic the jobs will have a positive knock-on effect on the economy as broadband becomes available throughout the country.

- Allison Bray

Irish Independent

The company said up to 200 jobs could be created as the new technology rolls out.

The technology, WiMAX, enables faster or next generation wireless internet access.

Imagine’s WiMAX will bypass Eircom’s infrastructure.

The service is already in operation and the company said the first phase of the rollout, covering 250,000 homes in Dublin, Wexford, Sligo, Tralee and Athlone, will be completed by mid-November 2009.

Imagine was founded by telecoms entrepreneur Sean Bolger and has 17,000 business customers.

see more: http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1014/imagine.html

Roscommon TD Dennis Naughten has asked the Electricity Supply Board to clarify its plan to close two midlands power stations on health and safety grounds for prolonged periods over the next two years.

The plans have sparked fears for the future of 500 Bord Na Móna workers who are involved in the production of peat for the plants. Workers fear significant losses in overtime and bonus payments during what should be high periods of electricity generation.

Locals fear the closures could destabilise the full-time and seasonal jobs on the bogs if they go ahead.

Mr Naughten said that the closures – while expected – are much longer than had been anticipated and have implications for the jobs of hundreds of seasonal workers and salary levels among permanent staff.

Mr Naughten’s comments follow claims that the ESB has now settled a multil-million euro claim for the replacement of corroded piping at the West Offaly and Lough Ree Power plants.

It has also been revealed that workers at Bord Na Mona have made a claim for in excess of €1.7m for lost earnings because of unscheduled stoppages at the two power stations. The plants only came on the national grid since 2004.

The ESB said this morning it had no comment on reports that its claim against the power station contractors had been settled.

Bord na Móna says it will issue a statement on the situation later today.

see more: http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1005/bordnamona.html

Like a scene from the grim 1980s, they circled an entire block in Dublin’s city centre for a part-time job at the British chain this Christmas.

A huge crowd of unemployed workers, including many professionals, formed an enormous line from early morning for the guarantee of 16 hours a week for three months.

It wasn’t just their desperation to succeed, but their hope that a couple of hours’ work might turn into something full-time that showed just how bad things had got.

Fortunes

Just as fashions have returned to the era of shoulder pads and mullet haircuts, so too have the fortunes of the unemployed.

Jobs that normally attracted students who wanted an extra bit of cash have suddenly become a chance to pay mortgages, clear debts or tide families over the festive season.

At a recently opened Marks’ store in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, schoolteachers and nurses joined sacked Bulmers’ staff in search of a job.

Members of management did their best yesterday to keep the queuing hopefuls updated as they slowly edged towards the Academy Plaza Hotel, where exhausted interviewers sped through applicants.

“I didn’t expect a queue this big, but I’ll give it my best shot,” said father of-one Neville Byrne (46), who used to work for Irish Ferries.

“This job would make a big difference to me financially, and especially for my daughter. I’d get to clear a few debts and start over after Christmas.”

Whatever hope there was at the outset was mostly dashed at around 11.30am.

A company spokesman announced that most of the city centre-based jobs — of the 588 positions that were available at 20 stores in Dublin — were already filled.

David Kennedy from Coolock and Danny Webster from Darndale were devastated when they learned the process was being conducted on a first-come-first-served basis.

“You’d never think Ireland could go to this in two years and is heading for 500,000 on the dole by Christmas,” said Mr Webster, a technician who lost his job four months ago.

“At the moment, you are lucky to get a reply by email when you send a CV off.

“The people who are interviewing here today could probably muster up enough candidates from their family and friends.”

He wondered if the job would be worth his while, as he would have to get two buses to the Dundrum or Liffey Valley stores where vacancies still existed.

Despite this, he still felt it was worth staying in the queue.

- Anne-Marie Walsh, Industry Correspondent

Irish Independenthttp://www.independent.ie/national-news/on-their-marks-hundreds-queue-for-christmas-work-1902405.html

McAfee’s products offer security to people browsing the internet and shopping online. The new positions are in sales.

The IDA backed company is the world’s largest security technology company and its Cork operation run its markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The company has been in Cork since 2004 and has an existing workforce of 180.

Today’s announcement will double McAfee’s sales team on this side of the Atlantic.

The company is one of the world’s top brands tackling computer viruses and other mischievous software and hackers.

The parent group has sales of more than $1.6bn a year and McAfee has grown in line with the development of internet commerce.

The announcement follows the publication of figures from the Central Statistics Office yesterday showing the number of people unemployed has more than doubled in the last year to 264,000 with pace of job losses this year accelerating.

see more: http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0923/mcafee.html

The company currently employs 266 people at 31 outlets around the country.

The company says it has begun a 30-day consultation process with staff to discuss plans for a ‘very significant’ restructuring of the business in the coming months.

Speaking this afternoon, chief executive Eugene Corcoran said that a key part of the restructuring would be to drive increased bookings through the internet.

Mr Corcoran said that the key to continued success for Budget Travel would be ‘reducing the business’s cost base and maximising its flexibility to respond to increases or decreases in consumer demand’.

75 of the jobs will be cut in the retail side of the business with an additional 20 or so redundancies in the company’s head office.

Mr Corcoran said that demand had fallen substantially across the Irish travel business this year, he said that the company estimates that overall demand amongst Irish tour operators ‘is approximately 40% down on last year and our experience reflects that’.

The company says that the restructuring would have no impact whatsoever on customers.

see more:http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0814/budget.html