Tánaiste Mary Harney, announced today (Tuesday 18th May 1999) that IDA Ireland had successfully reached agreements with the Taiwanese public company, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. of Taipei, to establish two industrial projects in Mullingar which together involve investment of more than £8 million and will lead to 500 new jobs over the next four years.

The Tánaiste said "this was a top class development because not only was it the first major investment breakthrough for IDA Ireland in Taiwan but it also delivers a tremendous solution to the employment crisis in Mullingar following the closure of Tarkett last year".

Warmly welcoming the investments from Hon Hai - which will operate in Ireland as Foxteq Engineering (Ireland) Ltd - the Tanaiste paid tribute to the Mullingar Inter Agency Group, led by IDA Ireland, in responding so well to the job needs in the area by putting together such a comprehensive marketing package, which has been successful. She added that the decision by Bennett Construction to acquire the former Tarkett facility and their development plan to establish it as a quality Business Park not only benefits the Hon Hai investments, but will also position Mullingar to attract further businesses to the location. "There was much competition for these Hon Hai projects from other locations and the focus on winning them for Mullingar has clearly paid off", she said.

"Today is a day of celebration for Mullingar, however, the work of attracting further investement and job creation opportunities will continue to be a major priority and focus", the Tánaiste said.

In one project, the new company - Foxteq Engineering (Ireland) Ltd - will invest nearly £4.5 million in establishing a facility to manufacture enclosures for some of the leading personal computer makers, mainly Dell and Apple. The company expects to create 350 jobs within the next four years, with recruitment getting underway immediately.

Foxteq Engineering will lease 115,000 sq. ft. of the former Tarkett building and begin modifications to the property immediately.

The decision by Foxteq is in response to the demands of two of their major customers in Ireland - Dell and Apple - to cut the lead time for delivery of enclosures to their computer manufacturing facilities, in line with worldwide demand and change in the structure of the PC industry. Foxteq have also recently responded in a similar way to their UK customers and opened a manufacturing facility in Glasgow.

Capital investment by Foxteq in this project is not grant aided.

The second project - Foxconn Ireland Ltd - will employ 150 over the next three years and involves £3.5 million investment in facilities to establish the company's first European design and low volume production centre for specialised electronic components, including cable assemblies, connectors or riser cards.

This facility will provide a localised service to a wide range of customers in Europe, including 3Com, Hewlett Packard, Fujitsu and Nokia. Over one fifth of the employees in this project will be third level graduates with particular technician skills in IT design.