Projects involving up to 450 new jobs in Castlebar, Co Mayo, and Dublin and an investment in excess of £30 million (€38.1 million) were announced yesterday. The majority of the jobs are being created by Baxter Ireland and will be created in Co Mayo.
Baxter Ireland, a subsidiary of Baxter International, one of the world's leading healthcare companies is expanding its facility at Castlebar, creating 220 new jobs, as reported in The Irish Times yesterday. It is also expanding its operations in Swinford, where it has invested £5 million in a special production unit to supply the Japanese market.
The company is also setting up a European shared services centre in Dublin, creating 80 new jobs. In a special project, the British-based Cedar group will establish a financial services call centre in Castlebar, creating 150 jobs.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Ms Harney, said that the projects mean over 1,000 new jobs are currently being created in eight IDA Ireland-backed projects in Co Mayo.
US-based Baxter Healthcare has been in Ireland for more than 20 years. It is upgrading its Castlebar plant and installing a new manufacturing process for dialysis solutions which will support the European market.
The £5 million investment in the Swinford plant will be used for a purpose-built manufacturing unit to supply the Japanese market. The facility produces medical accessories for renal therapy.
The shared services centre in Dublin is being set up because Baxter is restructuring its European back office operations, including its finance and purchasing functions. The Cedar Group, based in Surrey in England, is setting up a call centre in Castlebar, creating 150 new jobs. Ms Harney said it was a significant project which would offer a wide range of employment opportunities, for school leavers to graduates. She added it would establish strong links with the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.
Cedar Group develops and supplies computer and call centre software solutions to business organisations. Its revenues for the year to March 1998 were £14.4 million sterling, with profits of £2.8 million.
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