Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC) will contribute almost £0.5 billion to the Irish economy over the next three years, the vice-president of the company's international operations said yesterday.
Mr Bernard Collins, who is from Co Limerick, was speaking at a Government press conference on the expansion of the medical products company's operations in the Republic. It will more than double its workforce in the State from 1,500 to 3,550 over five years, of which 1,050 will be in a new Cork plant.
The total capital investment will be £40 million, with the bulk of this directed to the new plant in Cork and the rest to an expansion of its existing plant in Galway.
As is usual in these cases, IDA Ireland does not reveal its level of assistance. But Mr Collins said that BSC, which is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange, would be spending £450 million at its Galway and Cork plants when capital expenses, taxation and payroll were taken into account. This was many times the amount of grant aid it would receive.
The company's contribution of £100 million per year to the local economy in Galway would rise by £30 million when the expanded operation was fully operational, he said.
In Cork, it would spend £150 million in the first year, with an anticipated annual expenditure of £70 million when the plant is at full capacity.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the day was a flagship one in the history of Irish industrial development and of the IDA.
"It is particularly pleasing to note that the impact of this investment will be in regional Ireland," he said.
The company's expansion would not have occurred but for the Galway staff who were ambassadors for the country through their skills, productivity and flexibility, he said.
The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Ms Harney, and the US ambassador, Mrs Jean Kennedy-Smith, attended the press conference.
Ms Harney said that between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of US investment in Europe went to Ireland, which had less than 1 per cent of the European population.
The expansion was the biggest development project for 1997 and the IDA were the "unsung heroes" who quietly went about their work.
"Certainly the Celtic tiger owes at least one of its legs to the IDA," she said.
The president and chief executive of BSC, Mr Pete Nicholas, said there was a health care crisis, with many people who did not have access to treatment or could not afford it.
BSC's specialisation in microsurgical equipment had become a revolution, he said, reducing operating rooms and increasing outpatient care. "We can take credit and a certain amount of pride in being associated with the early beginnings of this effort."
Referring to the recently built research and development (R&D) facility in Cork, he said that over $40 million a year was spent "trying to maintain the useful lives of people who have been ravaged by stroke.
"If that R&D becomes productive we, in partnership with our Cork colleagues, will have achieved a very important goal."