A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

Employment in public sector rises

Employment in the public sector, excluding health, rose slightly in the 12 months to September 2007, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Employment rose to 251,100, from 247,600. Average weekly earnings, excluding health, rose by 4 per cent in the year to September 2007.

Employment in health rose by 6,900 in the 12 months to September 2007, to 112,800. However, changes in how the figure is measured meant direct comparisons with previous data was not possible.

The Impact trade union said other recent CSO figures show that pay is increasing faster in financial services (13.7 per cent), construction (7.2 per cent), banking and insurance (6.9 per cent) and distribution and business services (4.9 per cent) than in the public sector.

Construction jobs drop to low level

Employment in construction firms employing five people or more has dropped to its lowest level since December 2003, according to provisional figures released yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.

The construction employment index scored 98.3 for December, a drop of 6.4 per cent on the same month in 2006. The base year, ie the year where employment was scored 100, was 2000.

Tullow Oil denies claim by Congo

Tullow Oil, yesterday denied a claim by Congo's oil minister, Lambert Mende, that it has pulled out of an oil exploration block in the west African country.

Mr Mende told Bloomberg that Tullow has pulled out of its interest in block 1 on the Congo side of Lake Albert, and could relinquish its interest in block 2 in the same region.

However, a Tullow spokesman said yesterday that the company "has not relinquished its stake in block 1 and does not intend to do so". Shares in Tullow closed 4p higher at 590.5p in London last night.

Examiner to fish farm appointed

An examiner has been appointed to Co Cork shellfish farming company Feirm Éisc Cléire Teoranta. The firm, which is based on Cape Clear Island, encountered financial difficulties developing abalone, a type of shellfish popular in Asia.

The fish farm was set up by Comharchumann Chleire with assistance from Údarás na Gaeltachta. It received State grants of €979,000.

Kieran Wallace of KPMG was appointed examiner on Thursday.

G7 ministers to hold talks today

G7 finance ministers will today discuss a co-ordinated regulatory response to weaknesses in the global financial system, but will resist a common prescription for shoring up their own economies, according to senior officials from several Group of Seven countries. - (Financial Times service)

Smurfit appoints board member

Packaging group Smurfit Kappa has appointed the former chief executive of one of its rivals to its board. It said it has appointed Paul T Stecko as an independent, non-executive director.