US drugs firm to create 70 jobs in Dublin

US biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences is to create 70 new jobs in Grange Castle Business Park, Clondalkin, Dublin. Ciarán Hancockreports.

Although final details have yet to be discussed by the local council, it is understood the development will be announced next week.

Gilead, which employs more than 2,500 people in North America, Europe and Australia, specialises in developing medicine for infectious diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

Grange Castle Business Park is already home to the world's largest biopharmaceutical plant for Wyeth and the Takeda pharmaceutical plant, while construction has also started there on the largest project in the Irish food processing sector, Cuisine de France. Gilead's news comes just a week after pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline announced it would create 150 jobs in Cork in a €250 million investment and caps a good day for job creation here.

Bank of Scotland (Ireland), which operates the Halifax retail bank, is to create more than 300 jobs this year across all parts of its business and in a range of positions. More than half of the new positions will be in the bank's business banking arm. The majority of these jobs will be in Dublin, although it said it would be undertaking significant recruitment at its business banking offices in Belfast, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Sligo, Waterford and Wexford.

Its retail banking business, Halifax, is planning to recruit 120 staff to its branch network, which it said will grow to 41 branches by the end of the year.

Jobs will also be created in its customer call centre in Dundalk and in support functions.

The new jobs will bring the total number of new staff in the bank to 1,700 by the end of the year, an increase of 600 in two years. Gavin Lyng, head of human resources at the bank, said it was experiencing strong growth, particularly in its business banking.

Meanwhile, 40 jobs are to be created over the next three years in Cavan in a €2.5 million investment by McCarrens & Co as part of the expansion of its pig processing facility.

The investment, supported by Enterprise Ireland, is part of the company's strategy to develop value-added meat products.