MSD jobs reflect Ireland’s ability to beat crisis, says Kenny

INTERNATIONAL business is focussing on Ireland as the first that can emerge from the eurozone countries suffering “difficulties,” Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

The Taoiseach said we will emerge from the eurozone debt crisis with a “leaner, more efficient” economic engine to help “take back our economic independence.”

He was speaking as he officially opened a new €100m research-and-development centre at global pharmaceutical giant MSD’s Co Tipperary base.

Fifty new jobs are expected to be created at the MSD Ballydine plant, which is between Carrick-on-Suir and Kilsheelan, in the coming years as a result of the development.

President of the global Merck manufacturing division, Willie Deese, said that the company’s decision to locate its worldwide pharmaceutical R&D centre in Ballydine was due to the credibility, track record and expertise of the local team; the technology and infrastructure at the site, “and the support we have received from the Irish government and IDA Ireland.”

The facility has employed 70 new staff since construction started on the centre in 2007 and MSD employs 450 people at its Ballydine plant and 2,300 people throughout Ireland.

Describing the new facility as “a magnificent development,” Kenny said it was an example of the long-term commitment and partnership between MSD and this country since it set up its Ballydine facility in 1976.

“Obviously the pharmaceutical sector continues to go from strength to strength in Ireland, with over €24bn in exports last year,” the Taoiseach said.

“We want to build upon the success of Ballydine, we want to encourage the development of a global hub of pharmaceutical expertise and research here in this country.

“My philosophy has been, for a long time, that we should, by 2016, demonstrate that we are the best small country in the world in which to do business.”

Ireland’s debt stability is “much more positive” now than it was six months ago, he said, despite the “global turmoil” existing in the worldwide economy.

“International business is now focussed on this country as being the first that can emerge from the difficulties of the eurozone countries with a leaner, more efficient engine to drive our country, restore its fortunes and take back our economic independence.”

He said that Ireland’s 12.5% corporation tax is here to stay. “Everybody now appreciates there will be no change in that, either up or down, it’s there as a constant. It is our right and our competency under the Lisbon Treaty to set our level at that.”

Further expansion is in the pipeline at the Ballydine plant, with an additional €6m investment in the planning phase to extend the research-and-development facility and add extra capacity.

Plant general manager, David O’Connell, said yesterday that there are six new medicines in development at MSD Ballydine, including a new candidate medicine for the combined treatment of type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

“This underpins Ballydine’s strategic importance within the MSD global network and significantly increases, and diversifies, the level of high-profile research and development at the site which, in turn, is the life blood for growth of the company and the life sciences industry as a whole,” he said.

The Taoiseach said the medicines being developed on the site are likely to make “a significant and positive impact” on people worldwide.

IDA chief-executive, Barry O’Leary, said the €100m investment, supported by IDA Ireland, is “yet another demonstration” of MSD’s commitment to Ireland.

“We have now established Ireland as one of the leading global locations for the development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals,” he said.