Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 May 2018
4. Deputy Michael Harty asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if IDA Ireland and her Department are searching for a replacement industry for County Clare in view of the announcement in November 2015 by a company (details supplied) of its plan to close its plant in Clarecastle with the loss of 240 high-quality jobs. [22964/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to ask the Minister of State a direct question. In November 2015, the pharmaceutical company, Roche, announced its intention to close its pharmaceutical plant in Clarecastle, in the constituency of Clare, which we share, with the loss of 240 high-quality jobs. The Minister of State is from County Clare. Are IDA Ireland and the Department still searching for a replacement industry for the plant in Clarecastle and what success have they had to date?
What Deputy Harty said is correct. The situation is very much on my mind. We both share the same concerns about employment in County Clare but I think there is good news for the county. First, I will deal with his question.
In November 2015, Roche Holding AG announced the decision to close its facility in Clarecastle following a review of its worldwide manufacturing network. This review also resulted in closures at plants in other international locations. Since that announcement was made, IDA Ireland has been working hard to identify a new buyer for the facility. The site is still being actively promoted by the agency's staff to existing clients and potential investors and that will continue to be the case. The company's senior management also met IDA Ireland recently and are assisting the agency's efforts in that regard. We remain hopeful that an investor will be identified in due course and that further employment opportunities will, in turn, be created for the people of Clarecastle and the wider Clare area.
While I remain very disappointed by the closure of this facility, I welcome the continuing overseas investment in County Clare, where there are 68 IDA Ireland client companies employing a total of 6,775 people. The level of foreign direct employment in the county has increased by almost 12% since 2013 and the Government is determined to grow those numbers further. IDA Ireland, in promoting Clare as an investment destination, markets the county as part of the mid-west region along with Limerick and north Tipperary. The overall trend for employment in multinationals across that region is positive, with the agency’s client companies creating 1,481 new jobs there last year. That represented an increase of 5% over the previous year. Total employment in overseas companies now stands at 17,787 people across 128 client companies.
Recent investment announcements by overseas companies reflect the potential of Clare and the surrounding area to attract high-quality FDI. The decision by Jaguar Land Rover to establish a new software engineering facility in Shannon, for example, shows that the region can attract desirable high-tech investment and the employment opportunities associated with such projects. Beckman Coulter's announcement last December that it is to expand the current facility with the addition of 70 new roles is further evidence of the area's strengths and attractiveness to investors.
IDA Ireland remains focused on engaging with its client base so as to harness that potential and create further employment and investment growth in the region. We need to remember, however, that FDI forms only one part of our efforts to generate economic growth in regional locations, whether in the mid-west or elsewhere. Indigenous enterprise also has a critical role to play. That is reflected in the regional action plan for jobs initiative, which is a central pillar of the Government's ambition to create 135,000 new jobs outside of Dublin by 2020.
It has taken the Minister of State two and a half minutes to tell me that there is no new buyer for the company. Three years after the company announced the plant's closure with the loss of 240 jobs - and also the loss of the subcontractor jobs that went into supplying services to the plan - the Minister of State is telling me there is still no buyer. A replacement is critical for the people of Clarecastle. The closure of Roche sent shockwaves through the community. The Minister of State and previous Ministers in the Department committed to finding a buyer for the plant, which was the subject of major investment over the years. Millions of euro went into developing the plant but the Minister of State is telling me that, over a three-year period, a buyer could not be found for it. If we are still looking for a buyer after three years, the likelihood of finding one is diminishing by the day.
The Minister of State informed me of the other jobs that were created in Clare. In this case, however, a fundamental piece of industrial infrastructure in Clarecastle, at which production will cease in 2019, is going to be left lying vacant. We need to get a replacement industry into the plant.
Deputy Harty is a medic and he understands the changes in the way drugs are being made. As he is aware, the plant at Clarecastle is not suitable for the next generation of pharma production methods because pharma companies are moving to smaller-volume products. IDA Ireland is working hard. It is talking to companies but it is difficult to get a buyer for an old facility as it would cost a lot of money to change it. One would almost have to knock down the existing facility and start with a brownfield site.
There is a good news story in County Clare in terms of job numbers. A few years ago, almost 12,000 people were unemployed in the county. Today, the figure is closer to 5,000. Jobs are being created in other sectors. The future of work is changing as well in terms of the type of jobs we are attracting into the county. I referred to some positive announcements in that regard. The arrival of the Jaguar Land Rover software facility is a game-changer for the county and there will be other job announcements in the future as well.
I will come back to the fundamental question, namely, the need to get a new company to come in and operate the existing facility in Clarecastle. It is a piece of infrastructure that cannot be allowed to fall away and rust.
The Minister's predecessors, Deputies Fitzgerald, Mitchell O'Connor and Bruton also committed to finding a replacement industry for this plant. They have visited the parent plant in Switzerland and engaged with the company but the Minister of State is saying that, three years later, he has failed to find a buyer for the plant or somebody who will run it. He is the Minister of State in the Department and he is from the county. I expected that he would have been able after three years to deliver a replacement company to take over the plant. It is fitted out for second generation pharmaceutical production but, nevertheless, companies are engaged in this throughout the world. Surely he can find a replacement.
We do not fail in delivering jobs to the county. Only last Tuesday morning, I made a good announcement together with the chief executive officer of the Californian company, Microsemi, for the town of Ennis, which is close to Clarecastle. We announced that a €3.2 million contract had been awarded to the company by the European Space Agency for a general support technical programme to develop cost-effective, integrated motor drive solutions for thrust vector controls in aerospace applications. That will expand Microsemi's operations in the county where the company currently employs 270 people. We have made other announcements relating to the county as well. Microsemi is a fantastic company that exports €120 million worth of products annually and it is expected to increase that by another €20 million annually by 2020. It has a state-of-the-art aviation centre of excellence. I advise the Deputy to visit it and to see what else Ennis has to offer. Let us be positive, not negative, about job creation. The future of work and job types are changing. The digital economy is changing everything we do. The centre of excellence employs ten people but that number is expected to increase to 45 in the coming months. Up the road, Vitalograph announced 100 new jobs last year.
I thank the Minister of State.
There is positive news for the county. Let us be positive about employment.
I call Deputy Shortall on Question No. 5.
We will try to ensure that there will be a buyer for the Roche plant but it is proving difficult. IDA Ireland is working hard.
I seek the Minister of State's co-operation. We have not even completed Priority Questions. Everybody must get an opportunity.
