The Tánaiste has warned of further redundancies this year, cautioning that every job was vulnerable in the current fraught economic environment.
With multinationals increasingly driven to lower costs, more lay-offs were inevitable because the Republic no longer ranked as a low-cost economy, said Ms Harney.
Ironically, the Tánaiste's gloomy prediction came as she announced 300 new jobs in Cork, while sources at internet auction site eBay confirmed it is to substantially expand its Dublin operations.
"We are going to have more closures. I've no doubt about that....Clearly all jobs are vulnerable," said Ms Harney.
Her comments follow closure announcements last week by computer hardware manufacturer 3Com in Dublin and electrics group Schneider in Celbridge, Co Kildare, with combined job losses of 955.
Although not privy to the plans of overseas corporations, Ms Harney said it was inevitable some executives under pressure to reduce overheads would follow the lead of 3Com and Schneider and cut jobs in the Republic.
Her downbeat prognoses follows predictions from IDA Ireland that job losses in the multinational sector may be as high as 15,000 for 2003.
However, Ms Harney refused to be downcast, saying the economy continued to prove extraordinarily resilient, with 28,000 more at work now than at the same time last year.
The Cork jobs are to be created with the unveiling of an €88 million plant by Pepsi-Cola and a major expansion by Delta Homes, an Irish-owned maker of house extensions.
Pepsi has opened a new concentrate manufacturing operation in Carrigaline, outside Cork city, where it will employ 250 within five years. The soft drinks giant is also investing €9 million in an existing facility at Little Island, east Cork.
The existence of a high-skilled workforce was crucial to Pepsi's decision to expand in the Republic, said Ms Harney.
She added: "This high-calibre investment...demonstrates that where maintaining the highest standards of product quality, production standards and efficiency are of critical importance to global companies, Ireland still ranks among the leading locations worldwide."
Delta Homes said it would create 50 jobs at its new factory in Cobh over the next year. It currently employs 50.
Elsewhere, sources at eBay confirmed it would this week announce the expansion of its Irish headquarters at Blanchardstown, Dublin, where it employs 30 people. There had been speculation that the firm would increase its workforce to 1,000, but sources said the number was likely to be much lower.
The operation is expected to incorporate part of eBay's payment processing business, PayPal, which it bought for $1.5 billion in stock last year.