Medical companies provide mixed news on jobs front

Medical companies provide mixed news on jobs front

IT was a day of mixed fortunes on the jobs front yesterday with 125 jobs created in Drogheda, but 80 workers in Thurles being told they have lost their jobs.

BSN Medical told its 80 employees in Thurles yesterday that the company will cease the manufacture of orthopaedic soft goods by the end of the year.

The company said the decision was due to excess manufacturing capacity and the need to maintain cost competitiveness.

They said the plant has seen capacity problems since December last year when it lost the contract to manufacture the Futuro brand owned by Beiersdorf.

The company has been manufacturing products in Thurles since 1977, including orthopaedic support products under BSN's Tricodur brand and custom-made garments for Smith & Nephew.

Local independent councillor Jim Ryan said: "This is a huge blow for Thurles, the area has lost almost 1,000 jobs in the last year and the unemployment rate it around four times the national average."

Meanwhile, it was announced an American medical device manufacturer is to create 125 new jobs in a €52 million expansion of its plant in Drogheda.

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin announced the IDA Ireland-supported investment by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) at its global manufacturing centre in the town.

The move will increase the workforce at the facility to more than 200 from its current level of 95.

Mr Martin welcomed the decision by the company, which is a global leader in the medical technology industry with operations in 50 countries, to consolidate its existing facility and provide more jobs in Drogheda.

"It will also further enhance the Irish operation's role within the company's global business," he said.

"This announcement underlines IDA Ireland's efforts to encourage the expansion of existing multinational companies in Ireland to take on additional high value activities to sustain competitiveness for the future."

The Drogheda centre will manufacture a pre-filled syringe in the company's first investment of this type at a European site.

BD was one of the first IDA-supported overseas medical technology companies to establish a facility in Ireland when it opened in Drogheda in 1964 and Dun Laoghaire in 1970.

The company has invested a total of €115m in its Irish plants over the last 10 years, resulting in two highly automated, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.

It also has a small shared services centre in Shannon and is a partner in the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, based in Dublin City University.

Michael Loftus, BD's country general manager, said the investment enhanced the centre's position within the company's global operations.

"The decision was influenced by the attractiveness of Ireland as a manufacturing location, its proximity to the European market, the availability of suitable people to fill the new manufacturing jobs and the support of IDA Ireland," he said.

"The existing reputation of the Drogheda centre also played a significant role."