THE LARGEST estate agency in the country, Sherry Fitz-Gerald, has shed over 20 of its 259 staff, nearly 8pc of its employees.

It has also cut working hours in an effort to stem losses.

Sherry FitzGerald chairman, Mark FitzGerald, said the firm held off cutting jobs for as long as possible.

"Very reluctantly over the last number of months we've seen some very good people leave us through redundancy," he said.

"However, we still employ 380 people, quite apart from our franchise operations." The figure includes 151 people in the group's Marsh Parsons chain in London.

Other large firms are also letting staff go as the downturn in the property market gets worse.

There is evidence to show that many young estate agents on commission-based salaries have dropped out of the business.

Some property companies are down to just one sale a week.

A similar situation exists in Britain where a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors survey said its members sold an average of just 11.5 houses during the three months to the end of September. This is the lowest level since 1978.

Cuts

A director of Lisney, where pay was cut by 10pc earlier in the year, has said that at least 20 people have left the company in the last six months. However, these have come through resignations rather than redundancies.

The poor levels of commission have also seen staff exit Savills HOK, where up to 60 people have been let go in the last 12 months, it was reported today.

Smaller firms are also seeing severe staff cuts and closures. An independent agent in the south east is quoted today as saying: "I have let half my staff go, and I will have to make more cuts.

"All the others are the same. They are making staff redundant or putting them on three-day weeks. No one is breaking even. "This year I will lose a six figure sum."

The Irish Auctioneers Valuers Institute (IAVI), which has over 2,000 members, said it is freezing subscriptions for agents who are in difficulty and who have to drop out temporarily.

The institute charges up to a €500 annual fee for membership with additional fees for member firms.

- Cormac Murphy