Minister Martin announces twenty new high tech jobs in Smiths Detection at Ballincollig, Co. Cork

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin announced today (Wednesday 5^th October 2005) that following its acquisition of Farran Technology Ltd. in February of this year, Smiths Detection will create twenty new high tech jobs at its Ballincollig facility.

Making the announcement Minister Martin said “I am delighted that the company's decision to expand its operations in Ireland offers the potential for creating new high quality employment in a location such as Ballincollig and represents a major boost to the company’s already notable contribution to the local economy. This is exactly the kind of additional investment that the Government is seeking and is in line with our strategy to win high quality, high skilled projects in regional locations. This new investment is a considerable vote of confidence in the management and workforce and will further consolidate the facility and increase its role in the Group's global business strategy of the future.”

The jobs created will be primarily for graduates with degrees in Electronic, Mechanical and Software Engineering, with almost half of the positions announced having already been filled in the past couple of months.

The jobs will be created in a new spin-out company, which will focus exclusively on the development of security imaging systems for people-screening applications. The first such system under development, brand-named ‘Tadar’, is capable of detecting explosives and other metallic and non-metallic threat objects that are hidden under a person’s clothing as they walk through a security checkpoint.

Using technology developed at Farran Technology over the past four years, Smiths Detection’s ‘Tadar’ is inherently safe and ‘passive’ in that it does not employ any external radiation to illuminate the person being screened. Using very high performance sensors, ‘Tadar’ measures the energy that is naturally emitted and reflected from the human body and uses this to detect and identify the presence of objects hidden under the person’s clothing.

“The security industry has identified an increasing propensity for terrorists to carry explosives and other non-metallic threat objects hidden under their clothing. This creates a need for security screening systems that will detect such threats in a safe, fast and affordable manner, delivering the highest level of security without adding to the passenger’s transit time.” says Tony McEnroe, Managing Director of Smiths Detection’s Irish operations.

The Smiths Detection facility in Ballincollig will also be used as a Service Centre, to support the installed base of Smiths Detection security equipment in Ireland.

Smiths Detection is one of four operating divisions of Smiths Group plc., a UK company, with over 30,000 employees worldwide. Smiths Detection offers technologically advanced security solutions to detect and identify explosives, chemical & biological agents, weapons and contraband. Employing trace detection, X-ray and millimetre-wave imaging technology, Smiths Detection provides screening solutions for the global security market.

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Press Contacts: Richard Bayliss, +44-1923-658106, Richard.bayliss@smithsdetection.com

Charlotte Schmitt, +49-611-9412189, charlotte.schmitt@smiths-heimann.com