This article is from page 13 of the 2006-09-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
IN ONE of her final engagements before resigning as Tánaiste, Mary Harney praised Clarecastle’s highly skilled workforce after officially opening a new €5.4 million state of the art laboratory, at the Roche Ireland facility.
Ms Harney said the presence of a skilled labour pool, along with the company’s close community ties, were central to Roche success.
“The flexibility and commitment of the Irish workforce attracts companies like Roche to Clare and the mid-west. As people in Clarecastle know well, you don’t have to be in a big city to compete in big markets”
Managing Director John Liddy said, “We are fortunate to be well served by excellent schools and third level institutions in this region.”
The Clarecastle site was established in 1974 by thxe Syntex corporation and was acquired by Roche in 1994. Since then, Roche has pumped €200 million into the Clarecastle site which now produces final products and intermediaries for a wide range of health care products. The plant currently employs 240 people, 75 per cent of whom have third level qualifications. Mrs Harney said this figure underlined Roche’s importance to the region.
“We are very much moving into an era of fourth level education. The Government plans to double the amount of PhD holders so we continue to develop our knowledge based economy”
She was joined at the opening by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Swiss Embassy, the honourable Mr Ernst Balzili, Dr Jan van Koeveringe, head of Roche worldwide pharmaceutical manufacturing, Mayor of Clare Flan Garvey and Mayor of Ennis Joe Reidy.