FRENCH pharmaceutical company Innothéra is closing its plant in Celbridge, Co Kildare, with the loss of 27 jobs.

Innothéra said it regretted the “unavoidable” decision and paid tribute to its “loyal” staff, some of whom have worked with the firm since it was established in Kildare almost three decades ago.

It attributed the closure to a “process improvement” that meant the activity accounting for 70 per cent of the Celbridge factory’s workload was no longer needed.

The most-recently filed accounts for Innothéra Celbridge show an operating profit of €2.2 million for 2008, but the company said it had been loss-making since then.

“Innothéra Celbridge Ltd is facing another loss-making year in 2010, and as a result the Innothéra Group cannot sustain its Celbridge operation,” its statement said.

The closure was not expected by Innothéra’s 27 staff in Celbridge, some of whom are represented by Siptu.

Adrian Kane, Siptu organiser, expressed concern about Innothéra’s severance offer, which is believed to amount to €7,500 per staff member, in addition to their statutory redundancy entitlement of two weeks’ pay per year of service.

Siptu argues that norms for the industry justify eight weeks’ pay per year of service, while Innothéra, a family-owned firm which distributes its products in more than 100 countries, sees this as unrealistic.

The company will meet staff representatives today for discussions on the redundancy package.

Mr Kane said the closure was particularly bad news for Kildare in light of Pfizer’s recent decision to reduce its workforce in Newbridge.