It is thought the rise of Aldi and Lidl could be behind Tesco's discussions with staff about voluntary redundancies.

The supermarket says it is in "early-stage" talks with managerial staff about redeployment or redundancies.

Tesco is one of Ireland's largest private employers with up to 15,000 staff on its books. It is reported that up to 70 management grade staff may be offered redundancy packages.

Newstalk's Business Editor Ian Guider says increased competition has forced Tesco's hand:

The possible voluntary redundancies follows a recent review, which aims to see more workers on the shop floor helping customers.

However, a spokesperson says the programme is completely optional for staff.

In a statement yesterday, Tesco said "with over 2.5 million customer transactions per week and 15,000 employees, we keep the structures of our business under constant review to ensure that we offer the best possible service to customers.

"We are in early stage discussions with some of our departmental managers in stores to see if any wish to be redeployed to other roles or whether any would wish to apply for voluntary redundancy," it adds.

Tesco says it cannot speculate on the final outcomes at this early stage.