US firm to create 250 jobs at medical-device plant

A US healthcare company yesterday confirmed it is to create 250 manufacturing jobs over the next five years in Galway.

Zimmer, which describes itself as a worldwide leader in musculoskeletal healthcare, is to invest more than €51m in a building in Oranmore, where it will manufacture orthopaedic implants.

The new facility will also be home to the company’s sales and marketing division for a direct sales force in Ireland, supplying hospitals and orthopaedic surgeons with implants for hips, knees, extremities, spine and trauma.

The company already has a manufacturing facility in Shannon which it established in 2007. That location currently employs 330 people and is Zimmer’s primary global provider of its “NexGen” femoral knee system.

Adrian Furey, general manager for Zimmer Ireland, said: “We are delighted to be adding a new location to our Ireland operations. We are constantly assessing our worldwide operations and logistics network and this project is a direct result of that process.

“Zimmer has had a very positive experience of doing business in Ireland. We are looking forward to building on the success of our Shannon operation by expanding in Galway. Our Shannon facility will continue to be our flagship for Ireland and we will continue to invest in our operations there.”

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said manufacturing is a sector which the Government has specifically targeted in its jobs plan.

“In recent years we have seen an impressive jobs performance in this area, after years of decline during the 2000s,” he said. “Companies in this area offer great potential, in particular, to deliver job-creation to regional locations. Today’s announcement that Zimmer, a world- leading healthcare manufacturing company, is investing €51m and creating 250 additional jobs in Galway is a great boost for the West.”

Martin Shanahan, chief executive of IDA Ireland, said Galway is already home to some of Ireland’s biggest names in medical devices.

“This announcement will add to the talent pool in the city and surrounding region,” he said. “Ireland is a global hub for the med-tech sector, with firms locating in regional locations across the country. Exports of medical devices and diagnostic products now represent 8% of Ireland’s total merchandise exports.”

Recruitment for all positions will begin in the coming months. See: www.irishjobs.ie/zimmer