HARNEY ANNOUNCES 320 JOBS FOR CORK £219 MILLION BY SMITHKLINE BEECHAM GOVERNMENT APPROVES IDA GRANT PACKAGE CORK BECOMES GLOBAL STRATEGIC CENTRE

Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced today (Tuesday 20th October 1998) that SmithKline Beecham Cork Ltd will create 320 new jobs over five years, with 150 of the new jobs to be filled within two years, at its facility in Carrigaline, Co. Cork. The Tánaiste said that the Government approved an IDA grant package for the company's expansion at today's Cabinet meeting.

The Tánaiste, in announcing the development said that, the £219 million investment, made it one of the largest IDA supported projects of the year. "It has been driven by a strong and committed management team and workforce in the Cork operation. I congratulate them on winning this investment against intense competition from other SKB facilities worldwide. It is a strong investment by a strong international company and once again is a great endorsement of Ireland's competitive lead in the pharmaceuticals sector."

In addition to the 320 jobs to be created by the company, the Tánaiste said that "major employment opportunities will be created in the construction and services sectors during the building and fit out phase of the new investment".

The company's latest plans involve an expansion of their manufacturing capacity and a significant research and development (R&D) initiative involving the establishment of a Development Pilot Plant which will manufacture products at their early stages of development.

"The R&D initiative, and being given responsibility for the launch of major new and pioneering products, are significant endorsements of the company's Irish facilities. It will establish Cork as a strategic facility within the Group's worldwide supply structure." the Tánaiste commented.

The expansion will provide additional capacity for the manufacture of seven new, and pioneering, products for a range of therapeutic categories such as depression, osteoporosis, ovarian cancer, congestive heart failure and epilepsy and provide for the expansion of production capacity for existing products.

SmithKline Beecham has two manufacturing operations in Ireland, employing over 440 people in Cork and Dungarvan plus a sales and marketing operation in Dublin. The Cork SmithKline Beecham facility commenced production in 1975 and since 1994 the company has invested over £110 million in the facility and currently employs over 240 people manufacturing six products. The second facility in Dungarvan commenced operations in 1987 and employs over 200 people and the principal product manufactured is Panadol.

SmithKline Beecham plc, a worldwide healthcare company, employs 52,000 people at operations at over 120 locations. Headquartered in Brentford, UK, its worldwide activities are in three main divisions - Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Healthcare and Clinical Laboratories. It had a turnover of almost Stg£8 billion for 1997 with profits in excess of Stg.£1.2 billion. Projections for 1998 indicate continued strong growth.

The Tánaiste said "this was the second substantial IDA-supported investment within five months from one of the world's leading companies in the pharmaceutical sector. In May, Bristol-Myers Squibb made the largest capital investment ever by the company - a major £300 million investment which will create 400 new jobs in North Co. Dublin. Today's announcement was a continuing endorsement of Ireland as a leading location for major investment critical to the strategic growth of such companies. Nine of the world's top ten pharmaceutical companies have manufacturing plants in Ireland and the sector employs almost 12,000 people."