Cork Amgen €1bn pullout fears dismissed

A leading county council official working on the Amgen development planned for Carrigtwohill, Co Cork has dismissed fears that the company will abandon the €1bn project.

Amgen recently announced a two-year delay on the scheme, fuelling speculation the company could walk away from the project, which is expected to create 1,100 jobs.

At last night’s Midleton Town Council meeting, councillors highlighted “widespread” concerns that Amgen will pull out of the deal.

Councillor Ted Murphy said: “There are rumours that Amgen are going to pull out because of excessive development charges put on the company by Cork County Council.”

Mayor of Midleton Cllr Mary Woods added: “There is a huge amount of innuendo and speculation. People deserve to know what is going on.”

Cork County Council south regional manager Declan Daly said Amgen was committed to the project. He said the firm had already invested 70-80 million in site works, excluding the cost of buying the site.

“The development charges have nothing to do with the delay,” he said.

“We’ve had a number of meetings with Amgen officials and they fully appreciate the level of infrastructure needed to facilitate the project.”

Mr Daly said 26 million in development charges has been levied on Amgen in order to provide road and sewerage infrastructure.

“Cork County Council and the National Roads Authority will continue with water services and road infrastructure for the development,” he added.

Mr Daly confirmed that Amgen are paying for the site preparation works, with the exception of sewerage and drainage works, which come under the scope of the county council.

A spokesperson for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, said: “The company remains very positive about Cork.”

Councillors were notified this week that the official ceremony for the project, due tomorrow, had been postponed.

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo newspaper.