Liberty Insurance has announced that 70 job losses are on the horizon as part of a restructuring process.

The redundancies are expected to be voluntary, and come primarily from its commercial and back office functions in Cavan and Dublin.

The staff consultation period will last 30 days.

The move comes as Liberty faces a number of challenges in Ireland's insurance sector, including claims increases, market volatility, and excess capacity for commercial liability insurance. 

Chief executive Tom McIlduff said: 

"Our priority now is our employees. We will do everything we can to support those impacted by these changes during the consultation period and beyond through career management expertise and career counselling."

The company expects that it will come close to breaking even financially in 2016 as it realigns its commercial function, and noted that Libtery's core motor and household segments have improved over the past 12 months.

McIlduff continued:

"Liberty Mutual is committed to the Irish market and has invested €300m over the past five years to build a sustainable Irish business.

"We have brought innovation to the Irish market and will continue to launch new initiatives over the coming months."