The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has announced a new US investment in Galway which should result in the creation of 1,000 jobs over the next five years.
The £35 million (€44.4 million) capital investment is by Medtronic Inc, a leading world company in medical technology, at its existing Galway subsidiary which employs about 600. The new investment will have substantial IDA support which has been approved by the Government.
The Galway facility was formerly called Bard Galway Ltd until it was taken over last year by another US company called Arterial Vascular Engineering. AVE was in turn acquired last January by Medtronic which has its headquarters in Minneapolis.
Ms Harney, who arrived in Washington yesterday on an IDA mission, described the Medtronic investment as "one of the most significant to be attracted here by IDA Ireland in its implementation of the Government's policy to work with existing Irish operations of major overseas companies to win increased strategic responsibilities from the parent company".
The Tanaiste said that the development by Medtronic was based on the skills and commitment of the employees at the existing Galway operation. "It is also a further endorsement of the Government's decision to invest very substantially in third-level education" and thus provide the skills required by high-tech global companies like Medtronic, she said.
The Galway facility has been a manufacturer of angiography products for use in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease since it was established in 1982.
Medtronic plans to expand the research and development programme at the Galway plant. About 250 specialists will work on research, making it one of the largest medical technology R&D centres in Ireland, according to the announcement by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The new jobs at Medtronic will be generated from new products developed and manufactured in Galway. Up to 700 of the new jobs are expected to be filled within three years. The plant should employ more than 1,600 workers when the investment is completed.
The Tanaiste yesterday met senior directors of several IDA client companies including Xerox, Schering Plough and American Home Products. Over the next two days she will meet several other US companies which are in discussions with the IDA about possible new investments in the Republic. Medtronic, which was founded in 1949, employs 22,000 people around the world. About one-third of its revenue is from operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Turnover in the year ended April 30th was $4.13 billion with net profit of $905.4 million (€875.04 million). The company invests 11 per cent of revenue annually in global research and development.
