Vodafone Group is moving to what the company describes as a "global centralised model for IT". This entails outsourcing functions such as network maintenance which were previously carried out in-house. It is understood, however, that many of the workers likely to be affected by that deal in Ireland are contractors, not Vodafone employees.

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said it had not sought redundancies in Dublin at this point and that the implications of the outsourcing deal for Ireland were not yet clear.

"It is best practice for an international business, such as Vodafone, to constantly reassess ways of generating greater effectiveness and efficiencies. No decision has yet been reached. There are no plans for downsizing in Ireland this year, " she said.