The Cork Harbour area continues to attract pharmaceutical companies because its third-level colleges and local county council worked to develop an expertise in environmental matters relating to the industry, a forum on regional development has heard.
Speaking at University College Cork yesterday, two researchers, Ms Rachel Hilliard (NUI Galway) and Mr David Jacobson (DCU), said there was evidence of a relationship between location in Cork and dynamic capability.
Irish industrial policy, attracting multinational corporations to set up subsidiaries in Ireland was region-specific, encouraging firms in the pharmaceutical sector to locate in the Cork Harbour area, they said.
Cork County Council was therefore responsible for a relatively large number of firms, and this allowed it to build up greater resources.
Expertise in environmental technology for the pharmaceutical industry had also been developed in the local third-level institutes.
Another effect of having a concentration of pharmaceutical firms was that the environmental performance of these firms became a high-profile issue for local citizens, they told the forum.
This external scrutiny provided increased impetus for rigorous enforcement by Cork County Council. It also provided pressure for industry self-regulation from responsible firms which did not want their reputation compromised by the actions of other firms.
