THE NUMBER of redundancy claims received by the Department of Enterprise in October was 3,910, down 40 per cent on the same month last year, according to statistics released yesterday.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe said the trend in redundancy claims remained downward, with a steady month-on-month decrease since June.

“Overall, the cumulative figure for the first 10 months of this year is down 23.3 per cent on last year’s figure of 66,989,” he said.

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce said the fall in redundancy claims indicated that businesses were regaining stability and some competitiveness.

However, chamber chief executive Gina Quin warned that the burden Government was placing on companies must be reduced if growth was to be achieved in the private sector.

“Commercial rates and the cost of ‘red tape’ need to be reduced so that the Dublin business community is empowered to reverse the trend completely and hire more staff,” she said.

The redundancy claim figures issued by the department show that construction was once again the hardest hit sector, with building and civil engineering accounting for almost 20 per cent of all claims that were received in October.

The statistics show industries such as manufacturing, transport and communications, and financial services also contributed significantly to the overall level of redundancy claims.