Covidien investment of up to €25m in RD projects set to create jobs

MEDICAL DEVICES group Covidien has announced plans to invest up to €25 million in six separate research and development projects in Ireland in association with IDA Ireland.

The company, which employs 1,500 people at six plants across the State, says the RD projects will be focused on the area of respiratory technology.

Covidien, which was spun out of Tyco International in 2007, is headquartered in Dublin but operates largely out of the United States. The company, which has had a presence here for three decades, last year opened an €11 million customer service centre in Cherrywood, Dublin.

The latest investments will be linked to Covidien’s operations in Athlone and Galway, where it manufactures airways products and ventilators respectively.

Two of the RD projects will be managed at these plants, with the other four being run in collaboration with outside partners including BlueBridge Technologies, the Biomedical Diagnostic Institute of Dublin City University and National University of Ireland Galway.

The company said the projects would create a number of jobs in RD, although it was not able to put a precise figure on how many, as this will be determined in part by the progress of the research.

Covidien chief executive José Almeida said the decision to invest in RD here was down to Ireland’s record of fostering innovation.

“These advanced research and development projects represent a significant future pipeline of innovative products for Covidien. They also may produce important data to further patient health and safety.”

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton was at the investment announcement, which he said was great news for Athlone and Galway and “evidence of Covidien’s strong commitment to high-end activities in Ireland. It is a welcome endorsement of Ireland’s record in research and development and represents a further boost for the vibrant medical devices sector here,” he added.

Gus Jones, head of medical technologies at IDA Ireland, said the investment would reinforce Ireland’s position as a global hub for medical technologies, “employing the highest number of medical technologies personnel per capita in Europe”.

“Nearly 60 per cent of the medical technology companies with operations in Ireland conduct RD locally, which is important for the sector’s continued growth and vitality,” he said.