The announcement by the US computer company, Seagate, that it is to establish a 1,000 job facility at Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, represents a notable coup for the Cork region, which has endured more than its fair share of unemployment and redundancies.
There was a period in the seventies and early 1980s when the closure in quick succession of Dunlop, Ford, and Verolme, appeared to signal a virtual industrial meltdown in the region. But the deliberate IDA strategy of targeting inward investment - first from the pharmaceutical, and latterly from the computer sector has helped to off set these losses. Cork now has the greatest concentration of chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the State, many of them grouped around the 1,000 acre Ringaskiddy industrial estate in the city's harbour.
The Seagate announcement, representing perhaps the largest single investment in the Cork area, may come to symbolise the dynamic industrial renaissance in the region. The proposed investment will total some £150 million with the company planning to build a new 200,000 square feet facility. Significantly, the plant has been secured by IDA Ireland against tough competition from other European locations, principally Scotland. And, following on the recently announced Johnson & Johnson development, it will help to consolidate the success of the Ringaskiddy area, in particular, as an industrial location.
The Seagate development, of course, is not just a vote of confidence in the Cork region. It provides further evidence of how this State has now become the leading European centre for US computer multinationals. Inevitably, some concerns have been raised that many of these companies are attracted primarily by our generous tax incentives and low rate of corporation tax. There may be some truth in this, but it underestimates the importance of Ireland's educated and skilled workforce in attracting the multinationals.
The vast majority of the new wave computer plants should be much less footloose in nature than some of the traditional assembly plants which located here. Most now invest heavily in staff training and technology, making them much more valuable contributors to the economy, as well as giving the companies themselves a greater commitment to Ireland.
The main computer multinationals intend to be here for the long haul. Indeed the case of Seagate is not untypical; since opening its first plant in Derry three years ago, it has opened other facilities in Clonmel and Limavady. The Ringaskiddy plant will be its fifth location in Ireland. The only danger for Ireland in such major investments would come if the corporations themselves should fall on hard times.
The challenge now is to ensure that the educational system continues to provide the skills pool that is required. The Government's recently announced £30 million programme to provide more computer education in schools is welcome. But there is a sense that it is no more than a token effort and that something more substantial is required. The incoming administration would do well to respond in a more substantial way to the needs of the computer industry. It would represent dreadful mismanagement if, after working so hard to attract the computer multinationals, we failed to provide them with sufficient skilled employees.