Tánaiste Announces 1,300 New Jobs for Clondalkin £520 Million State-of-the-Art Biotechnology Campus "Ireland Selected in the Face of Fierce Competition" - Harney Biotechnology Key Growth Area "This is One of the Most Significant IDA-Supported Investments Ever by the Government" - Tánaiste

Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, today (Tuesday 4th April, 2000) announced that the Government had approved support for a £520 million investment by American Home Products Corporation (AHPC), one of the world's largest and most dynamic healthcare companies.

The investment will create 1,300 jobs at Grangecastle, Clondalkin by the year 2005 and represents a major expansion of the company's Wyeth Medica operation which already employs 1,700 people at its locations in Newbridge, Askeaton, Sligo and Dublin.

The company is expected to employ a range of management, R&D, engineering and production personnel, 50% of whom will be graduates.

Making the announcement in the Green Isle Hotel, Dublin the Tánaiste said "the expansion will involve the construction of a new state-of-the-art biotechnology campus, with approximately 1 million square feet of buildings, on a 90 acre site in Clondalkin. It is planned that construction work will commence in Autumn 2000.

"Ireland has been selected for this project in the face of fierce competition from other countries around the globe including Singapore. The decision by the company to expand its operations in Ireland is further indication of the company's commitment to Ireland and deepening its participation in the social and economic life of this country. It is precisely the strategy which the Government is pursuing in terms of consolidating our recent economic success," added the Tánaiste who also confirmed that she had met the Chairman of AHP on a number of occasions and most recently when she visited the US on an investment mission last month.

"I am thrilled that the huge effort that has been expended in securing this project for Ireland has paid off. The investment is significant, not just for the jobs it will create, but because biotechnology is a new vein of industry where there are enormous opportunities. It is a sector in which Ireland has the capacity to be hugely competitive and has been identified by the Government as one of the niche areas in which we want to be involved in the future. I have no doubt that we have the capacity to grow and expand our involvement in the sector", the Tánaiste added.

"The key to our continued success will be to ensure that we successfully promote Ireland as a prime location to develop firms whose competitive advantage is based on knowledge, innovation, technology and related skills," the Tánaiste said.

The Tánaiste continued "this is one of the most significant IDA-supported investments ever in Ireland and, combined with the recent implementation of the Government's £560 million Technology Foresight Fund and associated Research Foundation which I announced last month, should ensure that Ireland remains one of Europe's most attractive locations for knowledge based and innovative high-tech investments, particularly in the technologies of tomorrow.

This single biggest investment in R&D ever made in the history of this State will be an investment in human knowledge and people at the leading edge of world class R&D in the Biotechnology industry", added the Tanaiste.

"This Grange Castle project represents a continuation and deepening of our long and successful relationship with Ireland and the Irish people", said Dr. Reg Shaw, the Managing Director of the facility which will be known as Wyeth Medica Ireland at Grange Castle. "Each of our Irish plants enjoys an international reputation for excellence and we plan to build on this at Grange Castle. We are proud of our record in Ireland and look forward to increasing our contribution to the national economy and to the economy of South County Dublin".

"Ireland's ability to attract mobile investment is not only based on the corporate tax regime, quality of our human resources and highly stable industrial relations environment. It is also based on our ability to provide the right climate for multinational companies such as AHPC Our success in attracting this project, and others like it in the past, is testimony to this ability", the Tánaiste concluded.